Malfoys Are Different
by Daddysgirl11
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy wants to go to Hogwarts more than anything in the world, but he has one little problem: He is currently taking care of his two-year-old sister, because his father has taken to fire whiskey. When Professor Neville Longbottom learns of this, and of the boy's bravery, he strikes a deal to help him. But just how long can Scorpius keep this from his friends?
1. Going To Hogwarts

**If I get enough followers, favorites (and please reviews!), then I may post the next chapter really fast!**

 **Hope you guys like this next Harry Potter Next Gen story! I haven't read many HP fanfics so I really don't know what all's been used or not, but I hope this idea is pretty new and original. Draco is a bit AU here, and this story shows that the part involving the Malfoys in the epilogue of Deathly Hallows never happened. Enjoy!**

 **I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

" _No, I'm sorry professors, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy will not be attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He will be taught at home. Please do not attempt to further contact us"_

Neville Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster and head of Gryffindor house, stared at the piece of parchment. He could easily discard the information, saying the Malfoys were still pretentious fools who thought they could teach their kid magic better than a Hogwarts professor, but something seemed off about this reply.

Neville grabbed his wand. It only took a simple spell to see that Draco Malfoy had not written this, but rather his son, Scorpius, had.

He sat on this information for a moment, trying to decide what the best coarse of action would be.

Neville had hated Draco Malfoy all through school, and had not been looking forward to Scorpius starting this year, the same year that Albus Potter and Rose Weasley and his own daughter, Clarissa started. So Neville thought briefly of filing this information away and telling the school that Scorpius Malfoy would be taught at home.

He dismissed the thought at once, however. As much as he hated Draco, it was not his son's fault. Neville's first and foremost duty was the children. That included Scorpius Malfoy.

Neville sighed. It looked like he'd be making a visit to Malfoy Manor this afternoon.

* * *

"What the bloody-"

Scorpius Malfoy stopped himself short when he looked down at his baby sister. "Sorry Aria."

"Door!"

Scorpius sighed and glanced toward the front room. "Yes, that was the door. You think it's Hogwarts again?"

"Hoggywarts!"

"Thought so too," Scorpius muttered as the doorbell rang again.

"Answer the door, dang it!"

Scorpius jumped at the sound of his father's voice. Draco Malfoy hadn't always been so angry with his children, but ever since his wife died…

"Sorry Dad, I'll get it," Scorpius said, running to answer the door with his almost-two-year-old little sister toddling after him.

Opening the door, Scorpius recognized the man immediately, though he'd never met him personally. Neville Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster and and Herbology professor at Hogwarts, and who was also the head of Gryffindor house, was standing on his doorstep.

"Professor Longbottom," Scorpius said cordially.

"Hello Scorpius. Mind if I come in? I'd like to have a word with you."

"Um.." Scorpius glanced back at his sister, now banging her toy broomstick on a giant pot. His father was in his own bedroom, not to be bothered. "Sure, come on in. Aria, go play in your room for a while."

"Me no want to," she said pouting.

"Well do it anyway," he said in exasperation. Aria looked upset, so he told her in a softer voice, "I'll give you a cookie."

That decided her. "Otay," Aria said, bouncing off towards the steps.

"Have a seat then," Scorpius said, motioning Professor Longbottom to the couch. He had to move some of Aria's toys before sitting.

"Where's your mother, Scorpius?" were the first words out of his mouth.

"She died a few months ago," Scorpius said, unblinking. He'd gotten very good at saying this nonchalantly, even though it made him want to cry whenever he thought of it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Professor Longbottom said, a crease in his forehead, "I hadn't heard."

"It's okay, not many people know. We don't go out much," Scorpius said. he didn't mean to sound rude, only honest, but that probably came off as rude. He really just wanted Professor Longbottom to leave, before the man figured out that Scorpius wanted to go to Hogwarts more than almost anything else in the world, and that he'd sent in the answer via owl without consulting his father.

"Well, is your father here?" Professor Longbottom asked.

"No," Scorpius said immediately.

"No?" Professor Longbottom was giving him a hard, inquisitive look.

"No," Scorpius repeated.

Unfortunately, Draco malfoy chose that moment to yell, "Did you get the door?"

Scorpius grimmaced. "Okay, maybe he is here. Will you excuse me for a second?"

Not waiting for Professor Longbottom's answer, Scorpius rushed to his father's bedroom, opening the door a crack. "It's someone from Hogwarts, Dad. I'm getting rid of them."

He grunted in reply. Scorpius closed the door with a sigh.

"Bubba sad?"

Scorpius looked up. "Aria, I thought I asked you to stay in your room. Don't you want a cookie?"

"My room on fire."

"WHAT?"

Scorpius grabbed his father's wand (which he'd stolen from him weeks ago, in fear of Draco's own safety), pushed his sister aside, and ran for her bedroom.

The room _was_ on fire, but the fire was green. "My gosh," Scorpius muttered, amazed. " _Aguamenti!"_

Water shot from his wand, spraying the green fire back. He could hear his sister giggling behind him. "Aria, get out! Go in the living room!"

There was the sound of running footsteps. Scorpius thought for a minute that it might be his father, and his hopes soared-but it was only Professor Longbottom, alerted by all the screaming.

"My word!" he shouted, and got his own wand out to fight the flames, too.

It took another three or four minutes, but the fire had finally gone out. Scorpius stood there, panting, his clothes scorched.

"Professor," he said, "I think my sister is officially a witch."

"I think you're right," Professor Longbottom said, bemused.

"SHUT UP SCORPIUS!"

Scorpius flinched. Professor Longbottom frowned and said, "Is you father taking care of you and your sister?"

"This is my father's house," Scorpius said defensively. "He just lost his wife. Don't start in on him about something you don't understand."

Professor Longbottom looked at him long and hard. "I know you sent that owl, saying you wouldn't be attending Hogwarts. But do you _want_ to?"

"It doesn't matter what I want," Scorpius said, seething. "I won't get what I want, because I'm doing what's right. I won't go to school and let my sister starve, or my father drown himself in fire whisky."

"It always matters what you want, Scorpius," Professor Longbottom said. "If you really want to go to Hogwarts, then you'll go to Hogwarts. You can even bring your sister."

"I can?" Scorpius was shocked. Since when could kids bring their younger siblings to school.

Professor Longbottom nodded fervently. "From what I've seen here, she shouldn't be left alone at all, and not with your father either. But I can see you're good with her, even if she seems a bit out of control. Don't worry," he added, "that's normal. Kids are usually older when it starts, but magic this early is not unheard of. Hogwarts will help her too."

"But I can't bring her in the boys dorm, and I want to be the one to watch her-"

"Well, it just so happens we have a few more eleven year olds this year than we have beds. There isn't much space for extra beds, so we're reverting nearby empty classrooms to be bedrooms. There's a way...that you can have a slightly smaller room to yourself."

"Really?" Scorpius asked, trying not to get his hopes up.

"Sure," Professor Longbottom nodded. "And various teachers will offer free child care while you're in lessons. You're not alone, Scorpius."

It all sounded so good. But there was still one thing trouble him. "But my dad," Scorpius said desperately, "I can't just leave him. I won't let him end up killing himself over this."

"I have connections at St. Mungo's," Professor Longbottom told him. "We have hospice nurses that will be by routinely to check on your father. You'll all be taken care of. Doesn't that sound good?"

It sounded wonderful. There had to be a stipulation.

"What's the catch?" Scorpius asked him suspiciously.

"No catch," Professor Longbottom promised. "We just want what's best for your family."

"Then I want to go to Hogwarts."

Professor Longbottom gave him the smallest of smiles. "We look forward to seeing you in September, then. You can make it to get your things from Diagon Alley, I trust? And get to Kings Cross Station?"

"I can," Scorpius said, though he dreaded these two trips. He'd have to go to Gringotts to get the money from his family vault and to all the other shops, with a rowdy two year old trailing behind, whom he'd be having to watch constantly in case she decided to burn the whole street down. Then he'd have to travel through London, no cars or anything, with Aria and all their belongings, to Platform 9 ¾, and make sure they got through unnoticed, before finally boarding the train itself.

"Alright then," said the professor, gathering his muggle coat and heading towards the front door. "If you need anything before then, don't hesitate to ask. And I am supposed to enforce that magic is forbidden from this point on until you get to Hogwarts, but using your father's wand…."

Scorpius stared. "Professor," he said, startled, "are you giving me unauthorized permission to use magic, should a situation present itself?"

"I'm doing no such thing," he said sternly. "I'm just implying that it'd be impossible to prove that you'd done it, with your father's wand. Only if something like today happens again, of course."

"Of course," Scorpius said, almost smiling now as he opened the door. "Thank you sir."

"I will see you on September the first, Mr. Malfoy."

* * *

"You have to be careful today, Aria," Scorpius told his little sister as he lifted her in his arms. "When we get to Diagon Alley, I don't want to see a single fire."

She giggled and started playing with his hair. Scorpius rolled his eyes at this and grabbed a handful of floo powder.

"Hold on tight, Ari," he said, then yelled clearly, "The Leaky Cauldron!"

It was incredibly difficult, using the flop network while trying to hold a squealing baby. Aria had started coughing as soon as he let the powder fall, and Scorpius was afraid he'd end up falling on top of her.

Luckily, this was not the case. Scorpius fell out the fireplace in The Leaky Cauldron head first, Aria struggling to get out of his arms, clutching her tightly on top of his chest.

"Made it," Scorpius coughed.

"Bubba let go!" Aria said angrily, hitting him upside the head with her tiny fists.

"Stop it," Scorpius demanded, standing up and wiping the ash off both of them. There was hardly anyone in The Leaky Cauldron, thankfully, and Scorpius managed to get out the backside without stopping to talk to any of the few staring customers.

He tapped the correct brick with his father's wand and watched as Diagon Alley appeared in front of him.

Aria sniffed miserably as they approached Gringotts Wizarding Bank and walked inside.

When Scorpius had told his father he and Aria were going to Hogwarts, he hadn't replied, only took another swig of fire whiskey. Scorpius had asked where their Gringotts key was, and he'd grunted again, pointing towards a small silver box on his dresser. Scorpius hasn't visited his father after that, except to bring him meals. He had a feeling Draco was angry Scorpius had decided to go to Hogwarts in the first place, and even more so that he'd decided to drag Aria off with him.

"Your key?"

Scorpius rummaged in his pocket before handing the slightly intimidating goblin his father's key.

"Ah, a Malfoy," said the goblin, looking over the key. "Follow me then."

Scorpius had a difficult time keeping Aria from leaning over the rails of the cart as they rode with gut churning speed. And when she saw all the gold in their vault, it was nearly impossible to get it all out of her hands. Finally, he had the goblin distract her while he grabbed a considerable pile and scooped it in his bag.

"Thank you," Scorpius told the goblin as he put the gold in backpack he'd brought and grabbed his sister's hand. "I think that's enough, don't you?"

The goblin made a rude noise and shuffled off. Scorpius shrugged, following.

He was sized for robes by a witch that gushed over how adorable Aria was, and how he was a good brother to watch her while his parents were away. Scorpius said nothing to this, only smiled and nodded, allowing her to play with his sister. It gave him a break, anyway.

Getting his books proved a bit of a challenge. Aria had started throwing a fit in the middle of the store, and Scorpius had no idea where he'd laid the books he'd been planning to buy.

He'd just wrestled his sister back into his arms, when an amused voice said, "Looking for these?"

He looked up. A pretty girl, about Scorpius's own age, with reddish-brown hair, was standing in front of him, holding the small stack of books he'd set down when Aria had started making a fuss.

"Thanks," he said breathlessly, taking the books from her.

The girl was smiling at Aria. "You're a Malfoy, aren't you?" she asked, tickling his sister, who'd started giggling.

"I am," he said, not sure if this was a good or a bad thing in this girl's opinion. She just looked at him considerably, though.

"You look like your father is all," she said. "My parents have a few old issues of The Daily Prophet, and you look just like him."

Not a good thing, then, if she recognized him from the Daily Prophet articles his father had been in.

"And who's this cutie?" the girl asked, referring to the baby.

"This is my baby sister, Aria."

"Well she's precious. May I?" she asked, sticking out her arms.

Scorpius thrust his sister into the girl's arms. "Please," he said, "she's a handful."

"Where're your parents?" the girl laughed, taking the baby and bouncing her on her hip, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

"Elsewhere," Scorpius said. "I'm watching her now." And probably for the rest of his life.

"Oh, well I can watch her while you pay for your books," she said in a sweet voice. "I'm Rose, by the way. Rose Weasley."

Scorpius froze. _Rose Weasley?_ As in, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger's daughter, Harry Potter's niece?

"I-It's nice to meet you, Rose," he stuttered. He quickly shuffled away. "I'm gonna….buy these books. Yeah."

He could hear his baby sister giggling all the way through Flourish and Blotts. Scorpius, however, couldn't think straight. His father had hated the Weasleys, even when he hadn't been drinking. And Scorpius really respected his father's opinion, when he was sober.

Could that girl, sweet and caring and good with babies as she seemed, be as horrible as his father let on?

Scorpius was just paying for his books when the girl-Rose-came running up again.

"I'm so sorry, my parents are insisting we leave now," she told him apologetically.

"It's fine," Scorpius assured her, though he was sad to see her go. If anything, she'd known just how to calm Aria down.

"Will I see you on the Hogwarts Express then?" Rose asked. "Maybe get to see this little one again?"

He seriously hoped not. He'd sent a letter to Professor Longbottom by owl, asking if their arrangement could be kept as quiet as possible, without the students knowing he'd be bringing his sister to Hogwarts.

This girl, already knowing Aria was his sister, would surely realize something was up when he boarded the train with her.

But according to Professor Longbottom, they would be borrowing an invisibility cloak from one of his friends to get the kids on and off the train as discreetly as possible. Scorpius and Aria would get a compartment to themselves, near the prefects so no trouble could start, and they would keep the curtains over the windows.

"Perhaps," Scorpius said. "I'm not sure what time we'll be arriving."

"Well, hopefully I'll see you both then."

With a grin and a wave of her hand, she disappeared.

Scorpius sighed. "There went your would-be babysitter," he told his sister. "Come on, I gotta get a wand."

* * *

"We're leaving for Hogwarts Dad!" Scorpius called as he shuffled his and his sister's trunks onto a trolley he may or may not have conjured from Kings Cross a bit early. Aria would be riding on this as well, as they hiked all the way from their manor to the train station in London.

"Leave the money," Draco said.

Scorpius sighed. "Aria, go say goodbye to Daddy."

"Uh uh, Daddy scarey," his sister said. "I miss Mommy."

"Yeah," Scorpius said, glancing down the long hall towards his father's bedroom where he knew Draco would be laid out on the bed, only semiconscious and not at all caring he wouldn't see his kids for several months. "Yeah, me too."

He picked Aria up and sat her on the trolley. "Hold tight," he told her. "We've got a long walk."

But apparently they didn't.

"Oh good, you've already got a trolley," Professor Longbottom said when they got outside, glancing at his wrist watch. "That should save us some time. Does your sister have a car seat?"

"Not that I know of," Scorpius said, stunned. "What are you doing here?"

"Well I had to get that invisibility cloak to you somehow, didn't I?"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow. "And you decided to drive us there too?"

"Well, a friend of mine at The Leaky Cauldron was there when you dropped by for your trip to Diagon Alley, and he suggested that it might be wise for you to arrive at Kings Cross Station in a bit less of an impromptu manner."

"We planned to walk."

A look passed over the professor's face when Scorpius said this, but it was gone a second later. "Even better then. Now you have a ride."

* * *

"Well there you go," Neville told the boy as he settled him and his sister in a small compartment, right next to the prefects' compartment, by themselves. "I'll mark the compartment as 'Full' and you can lock the door behind me if you like."

"I do like, thank you," Scorpius said, sounding relieved.

Neville nodded stiffly. "Right then. Our retired old Headmistress, Professor Mcgonagall, is going to meet you at the Hogsmeade station when you arrive, and you will let her watch your sister until the Sorting and the Great Feast is over. Then we will escort you to your room."

"Alright."

Neville planned to leave then, but the kid looked so nervous, he just couldn't.

"Don't worry," Neville found himself saying. "It's really not as bad as it sounds. I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Yeah, until I'm sorted into Slytherin," he said bitterly. "Not a Malfoy in history, or at least not one I've ever heard of, was sorted anywhere else."

"Let me tell you something," Neville said, taking a seat in front of the boy. His sister was playing with her toy witch in the seat beside her. "There once was a boy who was very much like you. His family was big on their pure blood status, but he never agreed with them. He befriended muggleborns and Gryffindors and everyone his family despised. One of his _best friends_ was an unfortunate soul bitten and turned into a werewolf before he even came to Hogwarts. All of his family had been sorted into Slytherin house before him, too. But where do you think the Sorting Hat placed him?"

"Where?" Scorpius was listening with rapt attention now, sitting on the edge of his seat.

"Gryffindor," Neville told him, grinning. "His was one of the the bravest stories I've ever heard.

"I watched him die," Neville said, sadly now. "I'd never met him personally-I even thought he was a criminal, but he turned out to be a great guy who was the godfather of the very man whose invisibly cloak you're holding. His name...was Sirius Black."

"Does that mean-?" Scorpius gasped. "I'm holding Harry Potter's invisibility cloak?"

Neville nodded. "The very one."

"So why are you telling me this?" Scorpius asked.

"Because," Neville said, "as much as it pains me to admit it, I don't think you'll be put in Slytherin, Scorpius Malfoy."

Neville did leave this time, and Scorpius watched him go, amazed.

* * *

As soon as Neville got off the train, he saw the very friend he'd just been talking about, saying goodbye to his sons, while Ron and Hermione Weasley put their daughter, Rose, on the train.

Neville smiled at the three kids and waved. "See you three in a few hours."

He waited until the train had taken off before turning back to Harry. "Thanks for letting me use your cloak, Harry. We've been in a right mess lately with these Malfoys."

"What else is new?" Harry laughed.

"So what's the situation?" Hermione, concerned as always, asked frowning.

"Astoria died," Neville said sighing. Hermione gasped. Even Ron and Harry looked surprised. Harry didn't know what was going on either, he just lent Neville his cloak, no questions asked.

"That's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed. "Oh, her poor son!"

"Did you know they had a daughter?" Neville asked.

"No," Hermione said, horror-stricken. "How old?"

"Not even two," Neville said. Hermione closed her eyes, her hand to her mouth. "We didn't know about her either. Little Aria Malfoy. And she's already showing signs of magic. Set her room on fire. Green fire."

"My word," Harry said, looking astonished.

"Think Draco's worse off than the kids. He's taken to the fire whiskey and pays the kids no heed."

"What about the baby?" Hermione demanded. "Who's been taking care of her?"

"Scorpius. He's been doing very well with her. He had that fire pretty controlled by himself, using his father's wand."

"But he's eleven!" Hermione gasped, her voice raw with indignation. "Just a little boy. And he's heading off to school…"

"This is true," Neville said, "but he's been doing very well with her."

"Rose said she met a boy with his baby sister in Flourish and Blotts," Ron said suddenly. "She was holding the baby, when we were hurrying her to leave. Do you think it was _Malfoy's daughter_?"

"Must've been," Hermione said sighing. "The little girl was blonde, about two years old, and Rose refused to tell us who she was, just that it was a boy's baby sister, whom she'd just met."

"Who will be watching the baby when Scorpius is at school?" Harry asked. "Lucius and Narcissa?"

"No," Neville said, growing quieter now-so quiet, he hoped they couldn't hear him, "Scorpius is."

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "No, it can't be allowed! Neville, you can't! He's just a boy, he's got his studies….I'll watch her, if I must."

Ron looked dumbstruck. "What?"

"No, Hermione," Neville grimmaced. He hated telling Hermione no. That was something you just did not want to do, in fear for your life. "You don't understand. If we don't let them both go to Hogwarts, with him being her primary caretaker, he will leave and he will not come back. He wants to take care of her. She's all he has left, don't you get that? His mum died, his father's ignoring his existence...he can't lose her too. He has to know she's okay. He has to see it, everyday."

"But he's so young," Hermione said, defeated.

"Our teachers are aware of his situation," Neville assured her. "He will have childcare during school hours and any extra activities he has, and they understand if he needs occasional extensions on his work. None of the kids will know, either, so he can be around the others as a normal child. You won't tell Rose or Al or James will you?"

"Of course not," Hermione said.

"No." Harry shook his head. "I'd have done anything to get dirty information on Draco in school. I don't want to risk the same thing happening with my boys."

"And he'll need a friend," Hermione said. "Should I write to Rose, recommend she introduce herself?"

"Let them make friends on their own," Ron said, looking uncomfortable at the thought of his daughter being friends with a Malfoy, but also at the fact the kid was going through all that.

"Well what can we do?" Hermione asked earnestly.

"Keep it to yourselves," Neville said. "I told you three because I trust you. And…." he hesitated.

"What is it, Neville?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowing. Never missed a thing, that Harry. Neville sighed.

"Would any of you be willing to look in on Draco Malfoy occasionally? Just odd visits, claiming it's Ministry business?" he asked in a hurry. "We're trying to get a nurse from St. Mungo's there regularly but seeing as he can only be a danger to himself now, and it seems to only be the alcoholism, there's not much they can do."

"You've no idea what you're asking, Neville." Ron ran a hand across his face, but with one quick glance at his wife, he said, "But I guess I'm in. I can pay a visit to the bloody-"

"Ronald," Hermione said warningly, shooting a glance towards Hugo and Lily, who were talking to Luna and her twin boys with Ginny.

"Ginny can know, right?" Harry asked. "Because you'll have to Obliviate me if not."

"Ginny can know," Neville said, "and Luna too. Just no one outside the immediate DA, as in us six, got it?"

They all nodded in agreement.

"Great," said Neville. "See you lot at Christmas."

"Bye," they said, and Neville apparated back to Hogsmeade, several hours ahead of the train.

* * *

"Come on James, seriously?" Scorpius heard a voice say from outside his compartment door.

"One too many for this compartment, Al," said the laughing voice. "Why don't you find some future Slytherins?"

"Oh for the love of-"

This was a new voice, a girl's voice-one Scorpius had heard before.

"I'll go," Rose Weasley said. "Sit down Albus. I'm going to go find a friend."

They'd obviously let her leave, because Scorpius could hear the scratching sound of a trunk being dragged on the ground and the grunts that followed. The noises disappeared not long after that, and Scorpius was forced to look back at his sister, fast asleep and sprawled out across two seats.

About five or so minutes later, however, a knock sounded from the other side of the door.

"Hello?" said the girl. "Does this compartment have room for one more? All the others are full and I….I have nowhere else to go."

Scorpius, giving his sister another glance, swore under his breath and got up. He unlocked the door and stood face-to-face with Rose Weasley once again.

"If you're quiet, there's a seat for you," he told her.

Frowning, she walked into the compartment, and realization seemed to dawn on her face, quickly followed by a look of confusion.

"Why is your baby sister on the train to Hogwarts?" she asked as Scorpius helped her lug her trunk up on the luggage rack.

"Have to make a tradeoff in Hogsmeade," he said, grunting under the weight of her trunk. "What's in this thing, a ton of bricks?"

"Books, mostly," she admitted. "I like to read."

He didn't know what to say to that. Books always bored him, yet he'd read every spell book he could. He'd had to. Aria caused more green fire than any witch or wizard Scorpius had ever heard of.

"Spell books?" Scorpius asked, wondering if she might know more spells than he did.

"Oh no." Rose shook her head in disgust. "I hate textbooks. I mean, I retain spells easy enough but I hate reading anything nonfiction."

"Nonfiction?"

"You know, real?" Rose asked, surprised. "Don't tell me you've never read fictional books before…"

Scorpius just looked at her. The only books he'd ever read that focused more on imagination than fact was his mother's copy of The Tales of Beedle The Bard that he read to Aria every night, like his mother had done for him when he was little.

"Where do you even get made up books?" He asked.

"Muggle stores mostly," she said shrugging. "And there's still many in Flourish and Blotts but most kids only know about the textbooks there. That's what they come for."

Scorpius was shocked. "I never knew that."

"Well now you do," Rose said with a little laugh. "So...where do you think you'll be sorted?"

Scorpius flushed. "I...I hadn't really-I mean, I don't…"

She smiled. "It's okay to be nervous. Most of my family's been in Gryffindor, so that's a bit intimidating. But then, my mom was almost put in Ravenclaw, and my uncle was almost in Slytherin, and I can see where several of my family members could've gone into Hufflepuff. I sometimes wonder if the Sorting Hat can see into our future, and know what we'll become, or if it only sees us as we are now, you know?"

Scorpius had no idea what to say to this. He did not want to tell another person today that he was terrified of being sorted into Slytherin. He wondered now how many people, like himself and Sirius Black, had felt this way.

"You don't talk a lot, do you?" Rose asked.

"Um, no," Scorpius said awkwardly.

"That's okay," Rose said shrugging. "You don't have to talk much to make friends. That might be something to try, but I have too much of my parents in me not to talk all the time….as you can probably tell."

Scorpius gave a small laugh. Okay, so she was a little annoying, but she was nice enough. He'd do best not to make enemies with the only person who'd taken any interest in him yet. It was his first day, anyway. He had no time for enemies.

"Aria is a beautiful little girl," Rose said now. It appeared to Scorpius that she would not stop trying to start a conversation with him, and would keep changing the subject until she found something they had in common.

"She looks like my mum," Scorpius found himself saying, a little sadly. She must have noticed, because she frowned slightly.

"Your mum? Her name's Astoria, right? Both are really pretty names. Yours is cool too, and your Dad's."

"Malfoys are...different," Scorpius said. He couldn't help but smile a little. His mum had always told him this, whenever he asked why people stared at them whenever they left their manor, or why his father was constantly appearing in the Daily Prophet, when he barely even left the house except to go to work.

" _The Malfoys are different, sweetie,"_ she'd tell him softly.

" _Why?"_ He always asked.

She never told him why, however. She just said things were what they were and we shouldn't question it. You can never change the past; it's the future that makes us who we are. All she would ever say was that they were different.

Rose seemed to grin at him now. "Well, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

* * *

 **Hey guys! Another HP fic for you. So far, my Auslly stories get more readers and reviewers, so I'm hoping to make more HP ones to get more readers, but I am still working on my Auslly stories.**

 **This was originally supposed to be a one-shot, then it turned into a short story, and then the kids' first year last four or five chapters and I decided to make it a multi-chap! Lol, I don't know how long it will be, but I hope to make it long enough and I really hope nobody's done anything like this before because I am in love with this odd idea that just came to me, and trust me it gets way more interesting.**

 **Thank you for reading! Hope you love this story!**

 ***I don't own anything you recognize!**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	2. The Sorting

**Thanks for all the followers, favorites and reviews!**

 **I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Scorpius had no idea what to say to Rose when the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station at Hogsmeade. He had to get Aria under Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, but didn't want her asking why. After all, she'd be likely to want to know why he, a Malfoy, had her uncle's invisibility cloak.

Luckily, she saved him the trouble of explaining this by getting up. "Sorry, I promised my cousin I'd walk with him. You're welcome to join us though."

She sounded hopeful. Scorpius gave her an apologetic look. "No thanks, I gotta get this one to her babysitter for until she can be picked up."

"Okay." She smiled. "I'll see you at the boats then? Or the Great Hall?"

"Probably the Great Hall," Scorpius told her nodding. "See you then."

He helped her get her trunk back down and watched as she made her way back over to where her cousins were seated. When he lost sight of her, he turned to his still-sleeping baby sister.

Professor Longbottom had given him permission to use magic if he needed to because of his sister, Scorpius remembered. Grabbing his new wand (he'd left his father's at home and hidden it in his mother's chest of drawers) Scorpius whispered, "Silencio" and pointed it at his sister. He had no idea if it worked, because the next second he'd thrown the invisibility cloak over her and picked her up. Professor Longbottom said to leave his trunk in the train and it'd be taken to his new room while he was being sorted.

"I'm sorry," he murmured to Aria when he noticed she'd started moving under the cloak, but made no noise. So his spell had worked…. "We have to. Professor McGonagall will take the spell off you when we see her."

And thankfully, a very old witch appeared before him just minutes later.

"Mr. Malfoy?" she asked with a smile. "I'm Professor McGonagall. Where's your sister?"

"I'm holding her," Scorpius mumbled, just loud enough for the professor to hear. He passed Aria to her, still with the invisibility cloak over her. "She's under a spell to keep her silent. You know how to reverse it, don't you?"

Professor McGonagall looked mildly surprised. "I'm sure I do. Which spell did you use?"

"Silencio. It seems to have worked, because she woke up a few minutes ago."

Looking still more surprised at this, Professor McGonagall nodded again. "I do know the reverse spell, Mr. Malfoy. I shall use it as soon as the students have moved on."

"Thank you," Scorpius said, feeling oddly okay with leaving his sister with this woman, despite her obvious old age. She had to be close to a hundred, which while not unheard of, was still pretty old. She just seemed trustworthy.

She smiled at him briefly. "I will see you again after the Great Feast. Good luck, Mr. Malfoy."

Scorpius nodded his thanks and went to join the rest of the first years, who appeared to be crowding around a gray haired giant. Scorpius's eyes widened. "Giant…."

"Don't be scared, he's only a half giant," said a familiar voice. Scorpius turned to see Professor Longbottom standing there, grinning past him and waving at the half-giant man. "Hello Hagrid!"

Hagrid. That made sense. Scorpius's nerves settled a bit. His father had always said that Hagrid, his old Care of Magical Creatures teacher, wasn't much of a danger, unless it had something to do with the crazy monster creatures he loved.

"Did everything go okay?" Professor Longbottom asked now, turning his attention to Scorpius."Nobody see anything?"

"Rose Weasley got stuck in my compartment," Scorpius said, "but she just thinks I was watching her on the train so she could be handed off to someone in Hogsmeade."

Professor Longbottom gave him a measured look. "You've met Rose Weasley before, haven't you?" At Scorpius's surprised look, he added, "It's just, I was talking to her parents on the platform earlier, and they seemed to be under the impression that their daughter met you in Diagon Alley."

"Yeah," Scorpius said slowly. "She offered to hold Aria while I paid for my books. Girls like babies."

Professor Longbottom merely chuckled.

"What?" Scorpius asked. The professor just shook his head.

"Nothing, nothing," he laughed. "Go on, you're gonna miss the boats."

WIth a last, curious glance at Professor Longbottom, Scorpius got into the last available boat with a couple of other kids. He watched as the professor, so mysterious, faded from his vision.

* * *

Scorpius caught sight of Rose Weasley when he entered the Great Hall, but he didn't try to catch her eye. He didn't know why, but the girl made him nervous. He supposed she was nice enough, she just made him uneasy. He couldn't explain it.

"Scorpius Malfoy, right?" asked a boy with dark hair that was almost black. He looked very familiar.

"That's me," Scorpius said awkwardly.

"Cool. My name's Albus," the kid said.

 _Ah,_ Scorpius thought, _a Potter._ That was why he looked familiar. Scorpius had seen him enough, whenever he glanced the Daily Prophet his father almost always threw in the waste bin.

The black-haired kid, Albus Potter, shuffled his feet, as if feeling awkward all of a sudden. "Um...thanks, by the way."

Scorpius gave him a puzzled look.

"For letting my cousin sit in your compartment," he explained. "She was very nervous and didn't want to leave our compartment, so I'm really….grateful that someone-well, _you_ -let her in. My cousin, well she's like my best friend. So thanks."

Scorpius had to try not to smile. "No problem. Just consider it a returned favor to her."

"What for?" Albus looked bewildered.

"For…" Scorpius paused, debating if he actually wanted this known to a Potter.

No, he decided quickly. He definitely did _not_ want a Potter knowing.

"Well, she helped me at Flourish and Blotts down in Diagon Alley. I'd lost the books I was going to buy."

"Oh, okay." Scorpius was grateful for Albus's apparent lack of interest past that.

"So, um…" Albus continued, "You….you know what house you'll be in?"

"Probably Slytherin," Scorpius mumbled. "But I really don't want to be."

Albus looked shocked. "I….I don't want to be in Slytherin either, but my brother keeps saying I will. My dad said that would be okay, because I'm sort of named after a guy from Slytherin, but I know they'd be disappointed, because everyone in my family's been in Gryffindor so far."

"I thought Albus Dumbledore had been in Gryffindor," Scorpius said, confused.

"He was," Albus said, "But my middle name is Severus."

"As in _Severus Snape_?" Scorpius asked, wide eyes. Albus nodded. "Severus Snape, most hated professor that was ever a Hogwarts headmaster? Known Death Eater, Severus Snape?"

"That's the one," Albus said.

"Wow." Scorpius let out a low whistle. "I thought your dad, like, hated that guy?"

"He did, until he realized that Snape was just doing all that because he'd been in love with my grandmother, Lily Potter. He was trying to keep my dad alive all along, but hated him because he was so much like my grandfather. It was a….really weird situation, but my dad says Snape was 'the bravest man he ever knew'."

"Didn't he kill the other guy you're named after?" Scorpius asked, finding this incredibly odd.

"Technically, yes," Albus said, squinting, "but Dumbledore was already dying, and Snape had helped him live as long as he had, containing the curse in his hand or something. I don't know all the details, but apparently Snape looked like the bad guy all my dad's years of school, but turned out to be the good guy with a bad attitude."

They'd started calling names by now, and Scorpius was silent a he watched last names A-L get sorted. Scorpius was shocked when he heard "Clarissa Longbottom" was put in Gryffindor. Albus wolf-whistled, and Scorpius could see Professor Longbottom cheering loudly.

"I didn't know Professor Longbottom had a kid," Scorpius said, just loud enough for Albus to hear. He'd read in the Daily Prophet a couple of years before that the professor and his wife were both alcoholics (which Scorpius didn't believe) and childless.

"They adopted her a couple years ago," Albus explained.

Three more kids were sorted before a teacher called out, "Scorpius Malfoy."

Scorpius took several deep breaths as he walked forward and sat on the wooden stool. The hat was soon placed over his eyes, and Scorpius was plunged into darkness.

" _A Malfoy, huh? Usually not such a difficult choice…."_

All Scorpius could think was that he didn't want to be in Slytherin.

" _Not Slytherin? That's a first. Usually your lot begs to be in Slytherin."_

"No." Scorpius didn't know if he said that out loud or thought it. Everything else was blocked out. "No, not Slytherin."

And for some reason, Aria popped into his head. He did not want to be in Slytherin. He did not want to disappoint his sister. He did not want to go down the same road as his father and grandfather before him. He wanted to be like Sirius Black, getting sorted into Gryffindor despite his family's reputation.

" _Interesting,"_ said the hat.

Scorpius bit his lip and waited.

"Gryffindor!"

Scorpius leapt up, eyes wide as the hat was taken off his head. People were murmuring all around him, but a few people were cheering, including Professor Longbottom and his daughter, Albus Potter, Rose Weasley and a few other kids and teachers.

Scorpius walked as quickly as he could over to the Gryffindor table. Albus Potter was called not long after that, and he, too, was sorted into Gryffindor. He was grinning widely as he came and sat next to Scorpius.

"I guess we were both worried for nothing, huh?" Albus said.

"Congrats little bro," said a dark haired boy that looked a lot like Albus as he sat across from them. "Knew you could do it."

"No you didn't," Albus said. "You thought I'd be in Slytherin."

"No, I just wanted you to think that. Freak you out a bit. Teased Rose a bit too. She's convinced she'll be in Hufflepuff because she's too soft."

"Rose, too soft?" Albus snorted. "The only thing soft about her is her name."

Scorpius thought about the girl who helped him with his baby sister in the he book store, who'd talked about books and random things in the ride to Hogwarts, who never looked at him like he was a dreadful Malfoy because of his father. But then here were her cousins, acting like she couldn't have done any of those things in her life.

"Rose Weasley."

"Here we go," Albus mumbled. Scorpius glanced over at him. Albus looked as nervous for Rose as he had for himself. Rose really must've been his best friend.

The hat took quite a while with Rose, as it had with Scorpius. Scorpius wondered why it took longer with some kids than it did with others. Maybe they had qualities of the other houses too, and the hat was searching for which qualities the kid possessed the most of, that would rule over the others as they grew up?

"Gryffindor!"

"Thank goodness," James Potter said. "If she'd gotten in a house she didn't want, I'd never hear the end of it."

"Al!" Rose squealed, happier than Scorpius had ever seen her, as she rushed forward and hugged her cousin tightly. She then hugged James and grinned at Scorpius. "Where's Clarie? I wanna congratulate her too."

"Oh, I see how it is," Albus said teasingly, looking away.

"Shut up." Rose shoved him. "Seriously, where is she?"

"I think Uncle Neville kidnapped her," James said, laughing. "He was so proud. They all thought she'd be in Hufflepuff like her dad was."

"Birth dad," Rose corrected him. "And she doesn't remember him. And there was just as much a chance that she'd have been in Slytherin like her birth mom."

"But Hannah was a Hufflepuff too," Albus said. "So it must've been because of who she is, not anyone else."

Scorpius noticed Albus look away when everyone glanced at him. So he was fond of the professor's daughter….

Hogwarts was starting to sound more interesting every minute.

* * *

No one saw Clairissa Longbottom until desert appeared at the Great Feast. The girl had long blond hair, just a shade lighter than Scorpius's own hair, and dark brown eyes. Her face was very red as she sat between James and Rose on the opposite side of the table from Albus and Scorpius.

"Neville wouldn't let me go," she said, sounding immensely embarrassed. "I can already see how the next seven years are gonna be."

"Yeah," James laughed, "he's bad enough when it comes to me, and I'm not even his kid. I feel for you."

James had told them in no uncertain terms that he would not be sitting at the dinner table with a bunch of first years all the time, and was only doing so tonight because it was their first night and he was a good guy, but that they shouldn't expect him do so again. Rose had teased him about this, saying sarcastically, "James Sirius Potter, a good guy? Wow, and the sun has risen in the west."

Scorpius grinned. He hadn't participated in many of their conversations, but it was almost like having real friends. Friends that teased each other and laughed and swore they wouldn't be seen around each other. That was real friendship. That was family.

"So Scorpius," Rose said suddenly, "why don't you tell us more about yourself? Do you only have one sister?"

"Um, yeah." Scorpius was surprised. He didn't think the conversation would turn to him. But everyone was staring at him now, so he decided it was probably best for him to talk. "Yeah, my little sister Aria. She's about to turn two in a couple of weeks."

"No brothers?" Albus asked.

"Nope." Scorpius shook his head. "What about you guys? Any other siblings?"

"Al and I got a sister," James said, slinging an arm around Clairissa for some reason. "Little Lily. She's nine. Bright red hair and an even more fiery personality, that one."

"And my little brother Hugo's the same age. His hairs closer to orange compared to Lily's, and he's my dad made over, with all the making of the prankster both James and my Uncle George are."

"Hey guys."

The Potters, Rose and Clairissa all looked up. Above them stood a beautiful blonde girl with porcelain white skin and full lips. She was really very pretty.

"Victorie," James said, grinning very suddenly, "how's it feel to have to be going back to school for another year when your _boyfriend_ had to kiss you goodbye at the platform before going to work?"

"You're a little pig," the girl said and tousled his hair. "But congrats on making Gryffindor you guys! I knew you would."

She smiled brightly at all the first years, and her eyes stopped on Scorpius. "So you're the Malfoy that broke the mold," she said. "Interesting."

Scorpius glanced around the table anxiously. "Um, yeah I guess so."

James seemed to grin at his brother. "Dad'll never believe it when we tell him. A Malfoy in Gryffindor." He stared at Scorpius, almost in wonder, and shook his head. "You've just made history kid."

"How promising," Scorpius muttered under his breath. Albus made a choking noise.

"Well I think it's wonderful," the girl James had called Victorie told him. "I'm Head Girl this year. Let me know if you need anything."

Scorpius seriously hoped she wouldn't tell any of her cousins about his sister, because he was almost positive the Head Girl was one of those exceptions Professor Longbottom had said would have to know about Aria.

So that was why Scorpius found himself chasing after a seventh year girl when they'd left the Great Hall. "Hey, Victorie," he called after her.

She turned, looking down at him curiously. "Yes?"

"Um.." Scorpius didn't know how to say this without anyone else hearing.

"Here," she said, smiling slightly, "why don't we go somewhere a bit more private?"

Scorpius let out a breath of relief when she led him to an empty classroom. "So what'd you need?"

"Um, you'll probably hear about this sooner or later, but I'll be living in an individual room this year, and my little sister will be living with me. She's two, and I don't really want others knowing all about it."

She was still smiling at him, a look of what appeared to be affection in her eyes. "Well, I did already know that, but thank you for telling me. It's so brave of you to want to help your sister like that."

Scorpius didn't say anything to that. "Who else knows?"

"Other than me, just the adults that need to know and the Headboy. He's a really nice guy in Hufflepuff. You'll like him."

"He won't tell anyone?" Scorpius asked, worried he'd have to have this same conversation with another student much older than him.

"Of course not," Victorie said gently. "We'll keep your secret, Scorpius."

"Thank you," he told her, and he left the room.

* * *

It had been a mistake, not following the Gryffindor prefect to his room before talking to Victorie. Scorpius had no idea where Gryffindor tower was, nor did he know where his and Aria's bedroom would be. Therefore, he had no idea where his sister was either.

"The password is troll bogies," someone said from behind him. Scorpius turned and saw Clarissa Longbottom standing there, looking shy and awkward.

"What?"

"You're standing at the entrance of Gryffindor tower," she said. "The fat lady. I figured you hadn't known. You have to tell her the password for her to let you into our common room."

"Oh, uh, I was told I got one of those extra rooms."

"Oh." The girl's eyes widened. "You have to learn two passwords then. There's the outside entrance to your room, and the one way entrance into our common room from yours. The prefect guy told us all about them on the way down here. About seven kids just in our year had to have new rooms. Six to a room.."

She trailed off, frowning at him. "You get your own room?"

"I guess I do." Scorpius didn't really consider this a good thing. He'd wanted friends when he came here, and heard one of the fun parts was getting to share a room with a few mates.

The girl was still frowning at him. "Well the single one is awful small…"

"You've seen it?"

Clarissa nodded. "Follow me. I know practically everywhere in this school. My dad's a professor and we live in Hogsmeade. My mom owns The Three Broomsticks."

"I heard the stuff there is amazing."

"Can't find better Butterbeer anywhere around here."

Scorpius had no idea how she said that sentence without stumbling over her words.

Just out of general interest, he asked, "And have you tasted the firewhiskey?"

She turned on him then, her eyes blazing. "Firewhiskey? Just like your father, aren't you?"

Scorpius couldn't breathe. Just like his father? DId she know? Had Professor Longbottom gone home and told his daughter about his father's problems?

"You Malfoys can't leave my father alone for two seconds! All that firewhiskey nonsense! Why, my mother almost gave up the store over it! And all because some crazy old bat writes a bunch of lies about Dumbledore's Army in the Daily Prophet…"

 _Oh_ , Scorpius thought, _she's talking about the article._

"No, no," Scorpius said. "I didn't mean anything by that. I like your father, actually. He's helped me quite a lot since I got my letter. I was just wondering….for general knowledge."

Really, he'd just been wondering how good that firewhiskey must taste for it to be more important to his father than the man's own children.

Clarissa gave him a long, hard stare. "I have no idea what the firewhiskey tastes like. I'm not alowed to have even a sip until I'm seventeen. And just so it's clear…" She moved forward, inches away from him. For a short girl, she could be awful intimidating. "...my parents hate firewhiskey. They don't drink. And my father is a good professor. So you better not go spreading any rumors about him, now that you're at this school."

"Why would I spread rumors about a teacher?" Scorpius could feel anger rising up in his midsection, but tried to force it back down. Professor Longbottom had been very good to him; Scorpius did not need to repay the man by getting into a row with his daughter on the first day.

"Because everyone says you're just like your father," she said seathingly. "And I hate your father. He's a no good loser. You tell him to leave my dad alone."

And she walked away.

Scorpius groaned as he watched her go. Now how would he find his room?

He walked around aimlessly for ten minutes, not really paying attention to where he was going until he bumped into something that yelped and fell backwards.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Scorpius said, helping Rose Weasley back up to her feet. "Didn't see you there."

Rose laughed. "Don't worry about it. I shouldn't read and walk at the same time." She held up a copy of…. _The Hunger Games_?

"What on earth is that about? Seeing who can go the longest without eating? Kinda dangerous, don't you think…."

She laughed even harder. "That's actually not at all funny, I just think it's funny that you'd think that. No, it's an amazing story about this awful alternate future where the Capital controls the thirteen districts of what's left of America, and they have to reap their kids-"

"They _what_ their kids."

"Reap, sicko. From ages twelve to eighteen, kids have their names put in this bowl and whoever's drawn has to fight to the death with 23 other victors, two from each district, to the death. If they win, they get a lifetime of riches...You're not following me at all, are you?"

"What the blazes do Americans do to their children?" Scorpius asked, his eyes wide. Rose smiled and shook her head.

"Never mind, don't worry about it. Why don't we start this conversation over."

"Sounds wonderful. Okay, Hunger Games, what's that?" Scorpius asked again.

"Muggle book," Rose said grinning.

"Ah," Scorpius said. "See, I don't even like wizard books, so I think I'll pass on asking any further questions."

Rose laughed. "Is there any particular reason you were roaming the halls and just happened to decide to plow over the girl hidden behind an odd muggle book?"

Scorpius grinned sheepishly. "I can't find my room."

Rose bit her lip, smiling. "Has anyone shown you the common room?"

"Yeah, your friend did. Professor Longbottom's daughter. I don't think she likes me very much…" Scorpius shook his head. "But anyways, I got the single. My room entrance isn't through the common room."

"You get the single?" Rose said enviously. "Lucky. I want a single. One of my roommates snores."

Scorpius smiled but didn't say anything.

"Why do you think Clarissa doesn't like you?" Rose asked, frowning suddenly. "Clarie likes everyone."

Clarie. Like Clare-y. Not Clarissa, or Clare. Clarie. Scorpius had a feeling Rose was closer to this girl than other students.

"I made the mistake of asking if she'd ever tried the firewhiskey at her mom's shop. She thought I was offending her family because of something in the paper, and is convinced I'm a no-good loser like my father."

Rose's frown deepened. "Blimey Clare…." Rose sighed and looked back up at him. "I'm sorry, I told her not to hold anything against you because of the diversities between our fathers when they were in school. I know things have changed, even if they still aren't exactly friends…"

"It's fine," Scorpius said, wishing she'd just drop it and help him find his room.

"No it's not. She just gets so protective of her family, because she' never really had one before a few years ago…."

"Really Weasley, it's fine," Scorpius said, holding up a hand. "Do you, uh, happen to know where my room is? I'm exhausted."

And he was. The day's events were starting to take a toll on him, the good and the bad. He just wanted to get to his room, unpack, and get Aria to bed so he could finally go sleep.

Rose gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot! Come on, follow me. Now, I don't know your password, but I do know where the single is."

She led him down several different hallways, all the way back to a classroom that was Gryffindor adjacent. There was a portrait there too, just an inch or two smaller than the one of the fat lady leading to the Gryffindor common room. But this one brought Scorpius up short, and he stared at it with his mouth wide.

"The prefects said this led to the only single Gryffindor had. This portrait will ask you for the password and you'll tell her, and she'll swing open to let you in. If you forget your password, she won't let you in. You could be some imposter using polyjuice potion for all she'd know."

Scorpius couldn't speak. He continued to stare at the portrait, his mouth open, and he had to force the tears back down his throat. That was a hard thing to do, however, considering who the portrait was of.

"No," he whispered. Then, much louder, he started screaming, "No, no, NO! Take it down! TAKE IT DOWN!"

"Scorpius!" Rose stared at him with wide eyes, but Scorpius didn't notice.

"Take it down!" he kept screaming. "I don't want it here! Not her! Take it down! Take it down!"

His screams were starting to attract a crowd.

Rose looked on in horror, her hand to her mouth.

"Make it go away!" Scorpius screamed.

The portrait, which had been smiling when he'd arrived, was now watching with a face that mirrored Rose's, a mix of sadness and horror, and she tried to speak to him."Scorpius, baby-"

"NO!" He screamed louder than before, slapping his hands over his ears and shutting his eyes tight.

Someone was tugging at his arm. "Scorpius," Rose whispered hurriedly. "Scorpius, stop it, please."

"Let go Rosie," said a softer voice. Scorpius, still screaming, felt someone pull Rose away, and another pair of hands, much stronger, replaced them. "Come on," Victorie Weasley's voice coaxed. "Come on Scorpius, get away from the door."

Scorpius had never been more willing to do anything in his life. He let Victorie lead him through the crowds and down a narrow hallway and straight onto the grounds. They seemed to be marching towards a cabin close to the Forbidden Forest.

"W-Where are we g-going?" Scorpius asked.

"Hagrid's," she said, not unkindly. "The deputy headmaster is there."

"I don't wanna be in trouble," Scorpius said lamely, sounding for all the world like Aria when she'd finished throwing a tantrum and was being led to a timeout.

"You're not," Victorie said. "We're going to see about getting that potrait moved."

"B-Burn it," Scorpius said savagely as she rapped on the door. Victorie turned very sad, pitying eyes on him.

"You can't mean that."

He didn't, but he sure as heck wished he did.

"Vicky!" said a gruff voice, and Victorie Weasley was pulled away from him and in the arms of the enormous man Scorpius had seen in Hogsmeade that had led him and the rest of the first years to the boats.

"Hullo Hagrid," she said, embarrassed.

"Scorpius?" said another voice.

Scorpius looked up to see Professor Longbottom standing there, looking concerned, and a woman with bright red hair beside him. And in the far corner of the room, barely visible, was Clarissa Longbottom. She glanced away when their eyes met.

"Are you alright?"

Scorpius shook his head. Hagrid, the giant (or half giant), had let Victorie down, and she walked over and placed a hand on Scorpius's shoulder as she offered Professor Longbottom a toned down, brief version of what had happened in the hallway. Scorpius couldn't tell if she was speaking loud enough for Clarissa to hear, but Hagrid certainly had.

"Oi!" he said. "Who'd do such a thing, putting the boy's mother's portrait there!"

"Headmaster-snot-bucket," Victorie muttered darkly.

Professor Longbottom snorted, but regained his composure at one look from the woman Scorpius could only assume to be his wife.

"Victorie, not everyone can be Professor McGonagall."

"Well no one should have let that, that….." Victorie seemed to be searching for a word appropriate to use in front of two eleven year olds and a professor that happened to know her parents.

"Victorie," Professor Longbottom said with a smile, "why don't you and Jordan go down to the Gryffindor tower entrance and see to it that the portrait is put….elsewhere."

Victorie nodded, still seething. Apparently no one liked the headmaster.

"I take it you didn't want to see your mother's portrait?" Professor Longbottom asked when she'd left.

Scorpius shook his head. "I don't want it anywhere near me, or my sister. That thing…." he let out a ragged breath, "...that was not my mother. My mother is dead. I don't need some picture with her face and her voice to remind me of that every time I try to get into my room. Now if you'll tell me my password, I'd like to go to bed."

"Blast-ended skrewts," Professor Longbottom said, with a small smile at Hagrid, who grinned in return. Scorpius nodded stiffly.

"Can I go now?"

"Yes, of course. Clarissa can walk you back to your room."

The blonde girl got up without a word of complaint and followed Scorpius out of the room, surprisingly keeping pace with him as he broke into a run.

"Well don't off and leave me," she said, frowning.

"You don't like me," Scorpius reminded her, but he did slow down.

"I didn't know your mum died."

"That shouldn't change if you like me or don't."

She grabbed his wrist and made him come to a complete stop. "I'm sorry," she said, "for earlier. I was rude. I shouldn't make assumptions. You might not be anything like your father-"

Scorpius started walking again, wrenching his hand away from hers.

"Okay," she said, jogging to keep up again, "maybe you are-"

Scorpius whirled on her. "It shouldn't matter if I'm like my father or not. Why are you insulting him? Have you met him? Do you know anything about him, other than what he was like as a teenager? I'm sorry he bullied your dad, but that doesn't mean he's like that now."

He started to walk away again.

"Oh yeah?" Clarissa called after him. "Then how come you're raising your sister?"

Scorpius froze.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter. I got a relatively nice amount of reviews, and a good bit of favorites and followers. Thanks so much!**

 **So, who likes/dislikes the adopted Clarissa Longbottom? She was originally supposed to be like major side character (for reasons you'll later learn), but I liked her so much I decided to make her a main character. Don't worry-I'm a Scorose shipper 100%.**

 ***I don't understand anything you might recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	3. First Day

**I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I might've been able to afford to buy all the movies and books instead of waiting for Christmas ;P**

* * *

Scorpius turned slowly. "How do you know that?"

Clarissa walked towards him, her movements almost cautious. "You said you didn't want you or your sister seeing that portrait of your mother, who I can assume...passed on?"

Scorpius nodded.

"How could your sister see the portrait if she isn't at Hogwarts? And the sorting hat put you in Gryffindor, when I've heard you're smart enough to be in Ravenclaw, and nice enough to be in Hufflepuff, and everyone just assumed you'd be in Slytherin. But it takes bravery to do what you're doing."

Scorpius stared at her, his eyes squinted. "But how did that lead you to believe my sister is here?"

"There were supposed to be seven boys in the extra room, and a girl would get the single," Clarissa said. "Now there's six boys in the extra room, and one in the single."

"Where did the girl go?" Scorpius asked, frowning.

"Well," Clarissa laughed, "she has the choice of continuing to live with her parents in Hogsmeade, or cramming another bed into one of the other girls' dormitories. She hasn't made her decision yet, but at least now she knows why she has to and can stop sulking."

Scorpius made as if to apologize, but Clarissa held up a had.

"I like my family," she said. "I was actually a bit nervous to live away from them. Now, I can go to school and still live with them. And if I decide I'd rather live with the girls, I can change my mind at any minute. I didn't really want a single anyway. So lonely."

"Maybe it wouldn't be if you had a screaming two year old to keep you company," Scorpius said dryly. "Speaking of which, you gonna take me back to my room? It's way past her bedtime and I wanna say goodnight."

"Softy," Clarissa chuckled.

"I guess it won't be a secret for long," Scorpius said with a grimace.

"Why?" Clarissa asked with a frown. "Who else knows?"

"Um, you?"

"Well I'm not going to tell! I already made an enemy out of you, insulting your father and being all pissy because it's a weird time for me right now…"

She glanced away.

"A weird time?"

She waved a hand at him. "Girl stuff."

"Nope, I can wait a decade for that," Scorpius said. Clarissa laughed a little.

"I really am sorry for how I acted, and also for screwing up my first apology for accidentally insulting you again."

"As long as you promise not to tell anyone, I'll pretend I have no idea what you're talking about."

She smiled. "Start over?"

"I seem to be doing that a lot tonight," he laughed and shook her outstretched hand. "Hi, I'm Scorpius Malfoy, Gryffindor, not a replica of my father."

"Hi, I'm Clarissa Longbottom, but you can call me….anything else, please," she said laughing. "Clare, Clarie, that girl over there…."

"Hello Clarie-"

"I'm not finished!" Clarissa-Clarie, apparently-snapped. "Gryffindor, hopefully nothing like my birth mother, proud to be anything like either one of my adopted parents."

"Proud to be like my mother," Scorpius added, "and to let my sister be like her too."

Clarie let go of his hand. "So….not a fan of portraits?"

"We need a word for when subjects are not welcome."

"Or have gone too far," Clarie said, playing along immediately. "How about Voldemort? He's never welcome."

Scorpius shivered. "How about no? I was kinda taught not to say that name."

"And I was taught that fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself," Clarie said, but she shrugged and added, "Okay, what about papercut? I hate those."

Scorpius shrugged. It was as good an idea as any "Sure, why not? Papercut it is, then. I call papercut to any further mention of what happened tonight with that portrait."

"Papercuts heal…."

"Baby steps," Scorpius said. "I'm still not sure if I like you at all. But you're dad's cool, and you apologized, so I'll give it a chance."

"No go backs once secret codes are in place," she said as they approached Gryffindor tower. Victorie and Jordan (who Scorpius assumed was the Head Boy from Hufflepuff) had apparently replaced the portrait of Scorpius's mother with one of a red haired boy about nineteen or twenty.

"Don't tell me I'm guarding a Malfoy," the boy said, groaning. "When I said I'd take this job, I was really hoping it'd be one of my nieces or nephews."

"Now Uncle Fred," said Clarie, "You know the fat lady said it's an honor to guard our fellow Gryffindor children, no matter who they are."

"Yeah, well, I guess I'll agree to that if I decide I like him or not. You like the Weasleys, kid?"

"Besides the Potters and Clarie here, they're the only ones I've met. They seem nice enough, funny too."

"Funny," the boy snorted. "Which one you talk to? I didn't think any of the funny ones were old enough to be here yet."

"Rose," Scorpius said. "Rose is the funny one."

"My scrappy little brother's kid…." the portrait-boy-named-Fred murmured. "Still can't believe he ended up with that cute little Hermione Granger. I thought for sure she'd choose Harry. But no, they both married into my family not long after I died."

"You're dead?" Scorpius asked, wide eyed.

"Well yeah, most of us are," Fred said. "You're not very bright, are you? Well, I guess you wouldn't be, seeing as you got Malfoy blood in you. Hurry up now, I'm waiting for Peeves. Tell me the dang password."

"Is my sister in there?" Scorpius asked.

"You could see for yourself if you tell me the password," Fred said slyly.

"Don't be obnoxious," Clarie said.

Fred glared at her. "I used to like you. Then you started taking up for this git."

"Just tell me if my sister's in there and I'll leave you alone."

"There's a baby in here," Fred said scathingly, "I don't know whose she is."

"Blast ended skrewts," Scorpius said, grinning. He heard Clarie telling the fat lady across the hall the password to their common room (She'd said she wanted to spend her first night in Rose's room). He smiled across at her, and she grinned back, and at the same time both portraits yelled for them to get a move on, so they got.

"There you are!" said the old witch-Professor McGonagall-who'd taken Aria from him hours ago. "I'd started to get worried, you'd been gone so long. Congratulations on making Gryffindor."

"Thanks," Scorpius said warily, feeling exhaustion creeping upon him more and more as he walked in the small room. It appeared to Scorpius that an old classroom had been made into the room the other boys who hadn't fit in the tower were sleeping in, and that this was the office to said classroom. It was small, made to look even smaller than perhaps it should have due to the fact that the majority of the floor space was taken up by his bed, Aria's toddler bed, and a spare desk that had to have been left here from the last professor to occupy the study the room had once been.

"Your sister wanted to wait up for you to return, but she fell asleep ages ago. I hope you don't mind that I put her to bed already."

"You're the adult," Scorpius couldn't help saying. "I should be the one apologizing for you having to stay here so long. I'm sure you have a life of your own to get back to."

"Up until two years ago, my life has been purely to the well-being of this school. Personally, I didn't want to leave, but the Ministry insisted…." Professor McGonagall looked angry for a moment, then turned a smile on him once more. "You just get on to bed now. You've got classes tomorrow. I'm sure you'll be needing your rest."

She excused herself and the door locked itself behind her. Scorpius heard her yell something as soon as the door shut, something about someone named Peeves, and Fred-the-red-haired-portrait-boy call after her. Scorpius wondered how hard it would be to find a sound proof spell that would make it to where he couldn't hear anything outside in the corridors from his own room.

Scorpius sighed as he looked around. The desk would have to go. A smaller one might work with the space he had, but certainly not this big clunky one meant for a teacher.

Aria mumbled something in her sleep. Scorpius smiled. No matter what happened, he couldn't help but love his little sister. She looked so much like their mother.

Scorpius bent down and kissed her head. "Night," he whispered.

"Night night buba," Aria whispered back. Scorpius glanced down at her, holding back a laugh. So she had waited up for him, even if she'd been in and out.

Kids.

* * *

It took Scorpius some time getting up the next morning, and he was almost late for breakfast because Hannah Longbottom was late in getting Aria. Clarie showed up with her and all but yanked Scorpius out of the room to go to the Great Hall while her mother took Aria with her to The Three Broomsticks. There weren't any teachers free today seeing as it was the first day of classes.

"Come _on_ ," Clarie said, practically growling at him as she drug him by the arm.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Scorpius grumbled. He still wasn't sure how he felt about his new "friend" Clarie. She had her moments, but good gracious…. "What's the rush?"

"Wanna get good seats," Clarie explained. "The Potters and the Weasleys are actually pretty famous, you know. And I'm not, because I was only just adopted and people think my parents are drunks despite the fact they fought just as much as anyone else in the Battle of Hogwarts."

Scorpius snorted. "I'd think that's better than being famous for the reasons my family is."

Clarie shrugged, giving him that one. "I suppose," she said. "I just hate it that people think that of my parents. My mom's business went way down for a while after that awful Skeeter woman wrote that article."

"She isn't still writing it is she?" Scorpius asked.

"Yes!" Clarie said indignantly. "She saw a story and she ran with it. People don't like the idea of a professor whose the deputy headmaster being drunk. And they certainly didn't approve of them adopting a nine year old shortly after that article was out. That Skeeter woman is still writing about it, at least once every month or so. It's absurd. Hey guys."

They'd arrived at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, and Rose was already seated across from her cousin. Scorpius took the spot next to Albus, and Clarie sat on the other side of Rose. True to his word, James Potter was not sitting anywhere near them this morning.

"Did you get your schedule yet?" Albus asked through a mouthful of eggs. Scorpius wasn't sure if he was talking to him or to one of the girls.

It didn't matter, however, because at that very moment Victorie Weasley and a boy Scorpius did not recognize came up to them.

"First years, here's your schedules," said the boy. "Potter...already got yours, I see. Weasley...oh forget it, I'll let Vicky get you lot."

Victorie grinned and passed schedules to the rest of them, saying exasperatedly that you just had to know how to deal with Jordan, whom Scorpius had already figured to be the Head Boy she'd talked about the day before.

"Good luck," she told them as she moved on to a group of fourth years a few seats down.

"Clarie," Rose said suddenly as she looked between her friend and Scorpius. "I meant to talk to you last night. Why were you rude to Scorpius?"

Albus, a biscuit halfway in his mouth, dropped it, his eyes wide. Scorpius sat up straight, meaning to intervene.

"Because he said something that made me mad," Clarie said. Scorpius glanced at her, but she continued speaking. "It was all a big misunderstanding and we've had words. No harm no foul, right Malfoy?"

"Right," he said awkwardly. Rose and Albus were staring between the two of them, obviously confused.

"What did I miss?" Albus asked.

Rose didn't say anything, just continued staring at them intently. Scorpius noticed she hadn't said anything about what she'd witnessed the night before, with him going off when he saw his mother's portrait. Clarie knew what happened, but she hadn't been there to witness it. Rose had seen what had happened, but she had no idea why he'd freaked out so much.

"Nothing much," Scorpius said.

"Doesn't matter," Clarie told him at the same time. "We're all friends here."

"That'll be news to our fathers, eh?" Albus asked with a grin. "Harry Potter's son, Ron and Hermione Weasley's daughter, Neville Longbottom's daughter and Draco Malfoy's son. What a group of friends we are."

* * *

Neville didn't have any classes first hour, so he walked down to Hogsmeade to visit his wife. He hadn't expected to see her holding Aria Malfoy with a boat load of customers standing in line when he walked in, however.

"Take her," Hannah said to him, as soon as Neville approached her. He suddenly found himself holding a baby, something he really hadn't done since his friends' kids had been babies, and even then he hadn't held them much. His own daughter hadn't come to them until she was nine years old.

The baby giggled when she was passed over to him, as if she found the situation infinitely funny. "What's so funny?" He asked her with a little grin.

"Nothing's funny," Hannah said, apparently thinking he was talking to her. Either that or she didn't care who he was speaking to. "There weren't any teachers available and _your_ daughter insisted I take that child. If she ends up marrying that boy, I may go crazy."

Neville blinked. "It's not even been a full day. Why would she _marry_ him?"

"I don't know, I just can't take raising a baby."

"And you don't have to," Neville laughed. "Hannah, it's the first day of school. We'll have teachers and other staff free almost all the rest of the time, and Professor McGonagall has already said she'd come back to help whenever needed. We aren't raising Malfoy's kid."

Hannah turned to him, a tray of drinks in her hands. She looked weary. "Neville, if I can't handle that baby for an hour, how can that poor little boy raise her?"

Neville hadn't really thought of it that way. Now that she mentioned it, he realized how ridiculous his plan seemed. Did he really expect an eleven year old, someone the age of his own daughter, to raise a two year old on his own?

Apparently he had, because that's what he and Scorpius had agreed on as the only way he'd come to Hogwarts.

"He'll be okay Hannah," Neville tried to assure his wife. "We won't let him do it alone. But it won't be your problem, don't worry."

Hannah stared at him for a long moment before shrugging and turning away to hand out her drinks. "If you say so Neville. By the way, it's your turn to watch her at work."

* * *

Scorpius entered his Herbology class with the rest of the Gryffindor first years as their second lesson that day. He'd been sort of excited about this class, especially after transfiguration for his first lesson, where their entire class had been chewed out for breathing wrong when copying their notes. No one liked that teacher. So Scorpius was particularly keen to be in a class with someone he knew and was comfortable with.

Clarie felt differently, however, complaining loudly the entire walk down to the greenhouses about having to be in a class taught by her own father. Rose thought she was being ridiculous. Albus just wanted to get to lunch. He'd been particularly testy in the first class when Professor Parkinson had made fun of his and Rose's parents throughout the lesson.

Professor Longbottom was standing outside the greenhouse when they arrived, looking nervous and sweating. Clarie frowned beside Scorpius. "What's wrong with my dad?"

"Welcome to Herbology first years," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "We'll start class in just a moment. I just need to speak to our Head Girl for a moment."

"See her everywhere, don't we?" Rose muttered as Victorie Weasley appeared and seemed to be in deep conversation with Professor Longbottom as the rest of the first years talked amongst themselves.

Scorpius was squinting in the direction of their professor, wondering what could have him so stressed all of a sudden. Was it just because it was the first day, or was there another reason? He thought of his sister, who was with Professor Longbottom's wife at the moment, and suddenly worried if something had happened and they were just too scared to tell him at the moment.

Clarie seemed to see what he was thinking somehow. "I'm sure it's got nothing to do with your sister," she said quietly. "My dad would tell you if something was wrong, I know it."

Scorpius didn't say anything, because he wasn't sure he believed her. Rose Weasley was giving him a confused look and muttered, "You okay?"

He nodded. He didn't know why, but he absolutely did not want her or Albus (or anyone else in the school besides Clarie) to know about Aria being there.

Victorie Weasley appeared to be leaving. She smiled in their direction and, to their surprise, entered greenhouse three.

"Let's get working," Professor Longbottom said, running his hands together.

* * *

Rose Weasley was potting one of the simplest, safest plants she'd ever come across in the Wizarding world when she noticed something odd out the window.

"Clarie," Rose said, her voice so low that she hoped no one else could hear her. Albus and Scorpius were busy potting their own plant opposite of them, and didn't appear to be paying them any attention. "Is that Victorie...carrying a baby?"

Clarie looked up, her eyes wide, but quickly schooled her features when she looked back at her friend. "Could be a mandrake."

Rose shook her head. "No way. That was a baby. Maybe a little older than a baby, but I know a human baby when I see one."

"Well maybe someone's muggle kid escaped and crawled through the grounds. We may be hidden but we're not totally invisible to muggles."

Rose considered this, but it seemed highly unlikely that Neville would get a seventeen year old girl to take the kid off the grounds. It seemed like something that would require ministry officials, or at the very least an adult.

There was something weird going on, and Clarie didn't seem to think it was worth much discussion. Rose, however, wasn't prepared to let the issue drop.

"That kid looked a lot like Scorpius's sister," Rose said.

"He has a sister?" Clarie asked, not looking up from their plant.

"Yeah…" Rose said. "I saw them in Diagon Alley before school started."

She didn't mention that she'd also seen the baby on the train to Hogwarts. She was crazy for thinking that baby might have been Aria Malfoy, right? Scorpius had said he was handing her off in Hogsmeade, and it wasn't worth upsetting him over, making him think his sister had somehow escaped his family and followed him to school. It was absurd.

Rose shook her head at herself. She was being stupid. Surely her cousin would tell her later what had gone wrong, wouldn't she?

* * *

No she wouldn't.

Rose stared in indignation at her cousin, who was flat out refusing to tell her what happened during her Herbology lesson.

"But I saw you carrying a baby," Rose said. She was sitting in the common room with her. The boys had disappeared to the quidditch pitch to watch James practice and Clarie was trying in vain to make a battery powered muggle CD player work in the corner of the room.

"You must've been seeing things," Victorie told her, shrugging one thin shoulder.

"It's because I'm a first year," Rose muttered, turning away.

Victorie, always the nicest one in he family, turned to her with a small smile. "It's not because you're a first year."

"Then it's because your parents are the cool ones," Rose spat savagely. "Uncle Bill's like the rock star of the family and Aunt Fleur is so pretty like you."

Victorie stood up and came to sit by her then, pulling Rose's hair behind her back and running her fingers through it, just like her mom would do sometimes.

"You're pretty too, Rosie," she said, smiling as Rose turned to face her. "I can't tell you what happened during your Herbology lesson because I'm not allowed to. Uncle Neville said that no one outside staff and the Head Boy and Girl could know about what we were discussing. But I promise you'll be the first to know if I'm ever allowed to say anything. Okay?"

Rose pouted, feeling like a little kid, but nodded. "Okay."

Victorie smiled. "Good. Now let's see what we can do with your hair. You wanted a braid like the one in your muggle book right?"

Rose nodded, feeling her lips twitch upward in spite of herself. "Like Katniss," she said. "I showed you a picture of her when we were still at home and had internet."

"I remember," Victorie said laughing. "Alright, so you start by parting your hair like so…."

* * *

"Scorpius, major problem," Clarie said later that evening. Scorpius turned, and to his horror, saw her carrying Aria down to the quidditch pitch under a blanket.

"What the bloody blazes is that?" Albus asked, staring. Scorpius could only silently thank her for covering his sister in that blanket, even if it was a bit obvious what she was carrying.

Albus obviously had no idea.

"Um, I gotta go," Scorpius told him. Albus watched as he walked toward Clarie, a suspicious glint in his eyes.

"What the…?" Scorpius ushered Claire toward Hagrid's hut, already dreading whatever she was about to say.

"So, my mom apparently couldn't handle working with a baby, and my dad showed up at her work during first hour and they did a sort of trade off, but that's when our class was coming to Herbology and my dad promised you no one would know about Aria, so that's why he was all nervous and stuff. Anyways, he called Vicky out of her free period to take her while he taught our class, and by that time there was a free teacher."

"So how did you end up with her?" Scorpius asked, eyes wide. They were at Hagrid's hut now, and the door practically opened beneath their touch. Scorpius gave her a half scared look, but Clarie shook her head.

"Don't worry, Hagrid said he'd be in the forest all night and that his hut was unlocked. Anyway, whoever that teacher was forgot she had a class that afternoon, so she called for the Head Boy, but he had quidditch right after that last free lesson, so he went to look for my dad and found me instead. He's apparently really irresponsible to leave a random eleven year old in charge of a baby, but he kept going on about quidditch so I took her, but I don't know a thing about babies, so I went to find you and here we are."

Scorpius closed the door and turned to stare at her. Aria had started squirming under the blanket, and Clarie seemed to be having problems keeping her still.

He laughed. "Give me my sister, Clare."

She gratefully passed her over and Scorpius took the blanket off her head. "Hey sissy, you had a long day huh?"

"No fire," she said in her little baby voice, holding her hands up to his face. Scorpius's face broke into a grin.

"No fire? That's a good sign. Bubba's glad you didn't scare any of the people who had you today with that stuff."

Clarie was watching them, a small smile on her face. "That's all she kept saying when I got her. No fire."

Scorpius turned to her and laughed. "That why you came to find me?"

Clarie nodded, biting her lip.

Scorpius laughed again. "That's probably the best thing she could have told you." She looked confused so Scorpius continued. "During the summer she's been showing signs of magic. It's usually when she's upset, but lately she's been causing random things to catch fire. Green fire."

"Is that why my dad had scorch marks on his clothes when he came home from your house that first day? Merlin, I thought someone tried to curse him or something."

Scorpius smiled slightly. He was finding these sly comments she made about his family less insulting now, probably because she'd been told all her life that Malfoys were evil.

"We're not actually that bad anymore," he said quietly. "At least….we aren't." He gestured between himself and his sister.

"Why are you watching your sister, Scorpius?" Clarie asked softly.

He just shook his head, a small smile on his face as he repeated the words he'd said to Rose not long ago, the words his mother had constantly told him and his sister when she'd been alive.

"Well that's just because Malfoys are different."

* * *

 **Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites! Y'all make my day every time my email alerts me :) Can I please ask for more reviews? I have 3 right now which is awesome, but I'm a review hog lol.**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	4. Green Fires

**Hey guys, I know most of you are anxiously waiting for me to update my Auslly stories, but I've been having a bit of writer's block and this was already typed up so I'm updating it first.**

 **I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Scorpius and Clarie got closer as the year dragged on, and people started noticing. Rose and Albus, for instance, were constantly finding themselves alone in the common room when their friends had gone off to do something by themselves.

"Are they together?" Albus asked one evening as he sat across from Rose in the common room, attempting to beat her at wizard's chess. He wasn't doing a very good job.

"I don't know," Rose said skeptically. She captured one of Albus's pieces and muttered, "Check."

"Check with who? Don't you think it'd be really awkward to just go up to one of them and ask if they're dating?"

"I said 'check' for the game, idiot." Rose rolled her eyes. It had been much more fun playing this game with Scorpius, who had appeared to be an expert at it and could even give Rose a run for her galleons. "But no, I don't think that'd be very awkward. You ask Scorpius, he seems to get along with you alright."

"Well why can't you ask Clarie?" Albus asked frowning. "She's been your friend for years."

"They aren't dating," said a voice behind them, before Rose had the chance to respond to this. It was James, grinning down at them in a superior manner.

"How do you know?" Rose demanded.

"Because I asked," James said shrugging. "I thought the same thing you did, but apparently they're 'practically siblings' or so they say."

Rose stared at him. "You're sure that's what they said? Cause they spend an awful lot of time together."

"So did our dad and your mum," James countered, "and they never had anything go on between them, despite others believing they did. Like siblings, my dad says. They've always been like siblings."

There was suddenly a loud booming noise outside and a shout issuing from across the hall. Someone ran through the open portrait of the fat lady, breathing hard. "There's fire!" the kid screeched. "Fire! Actual fire, and it's green! It's coming from Malfoy's room!"

The three of them shot up so fast that the chess pieces went flying, but no one cared. They all went running out of the portrait hole, just in time to see Scorpius beating back the flames in his room with his wand that was emitting water. "Aguamenti!" He yelled, and the water gushed even harder out the end of his wand. James rushed forward to help, seeing as he was a third year and was actually supposed to know that spell already, and they managed to get the green fire under control within a matter of minutes.

"Where's Clarie?" Albus asked, when all the fire had gone. "They were supposed to have been together."

Rose looked around. Clarie was nowhere to be seen.

"Scorpius, is Clarie with you?" Rose asked, raising her voice over the crowd of people demanding to know what had happened.

"No!" Scorpius yelled back. Rose sighed with relief, but Albus still looked nervous.

"He's sure?"

"I think he'd know if she were in his room, Albus, and certainly if it'd caught fire with her in there."

Albus seemed reluctant, but accepted this eventually. "Green fire," he said in wonder. "What on earth could cause green fire?"

"Iron?" Rose suggested thoughtfully.

"Out of the way!" yelled a familiar voice. Neville came strolling through, parting the crowd. He seemed to be having a murmured conversation with Scorpius, and then, "Everyone is to return to their dormitories at once. No damage was done, no harm was inflicted. Please go back to your own common rooms."

Albus made as if to follow orders, but Rose held him back. "Random green fires don't just happen, Al," she whispered. "He's our friend. We need to talk to him, see what happened."

"He doesn't want to talk to anyone," James said grumpily as he made his way back over to where they were standing, "and Neville said we'd all have detention if we didn't get back in our common room with the rest."

Rose still didn't want to leave, but with both of her cousins dragging her through the portrait hole, she didn't really have much choice. She thought she might have glimpsed someone small with blonde hair run by, but couldn't be sure because the portrait swung shut right as she was about to say something.

* * *

"That was close," Clarie said, wiping sweat away from her forehead as she picked a now-two-year-old Aria up and carried her back to where Scorpius and Professor Longbottom were standing.

"You think?" Scorpius said, breathing hard. "She hasn't had one this bad since we were at home, right after…."

He didn't finish his sentence, glancing at Clarie briefly and away again.

"Scorpius, what keeps setting her off?" Professor Longbottom asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Scorpius shrugged it off and wiped his sleeve across his face. It came away with ash and soot covering it. "I don't know. It's usually when she's upset, but I don't know what could have upset her tonight."

"I want Mama," Aria said, glaring up at Clarie. Scorpius's eyes widened, as did Clarie's and Professor Longbottom's.

"Scorpius, is she usually thinking of your mother when this happens?" Clarie asked.

Scorpius thought for a moment, but couldn't remember. "Well, it doesn't happen every time she's upset…." he considered, "but she didn't say anything about Mum this afternoon."

"I want Mama!" Aria said, a bit more fiercely.

"I know Ari," Scorpius muttered, coming forward and taking his little sister out of Clarie's arms. Clarie had just recently gotten to where she'd hold the kid without freaking out, about the time Christmas break had rolled along and they'd both stayed at Hogwarts.

Aria put her head on Scorpius's shoulder, and he could feel her tears start to go through the fabric of his pajamas. "Mama," she muttered.

Belatedly, they noticed a small, green flame had started growing along the wall. Professor Longbottom swore and rushed forward to put it out.

Clarie turned back to Scorpius, her expression infinitely sad. "Well there's not much we can do about grief fire, is there?"

Scorpius shook his head, because he couldn't think of anything.

"Ari," he whispered, "why do you make the green fires?"

"Mama go bye-bye," Aria said, sticking her thumb in her mouth.

Scorpius sighed. "I know Mama went bye-bye, honey, but why do you make the fires?"

"Mama go bye-bye," she said again. "Big green light go swoosh and Mama went bye-bye. When she coming back?"

Scorpius felt his heart thudding hard against his chest. He turned toward the others, and they were both giving him shocked, horrified looks. He'd never told either one of them, never told anyone actually, the way his mother had been killed.

He'd never told anyone that he and his baby sister had watched it happen.

"Scorpius…" Clarie whispered. Professor Longbottom put his hand on her shoulder to silence her. Scorpius looked down at his shoes, still stroking his little sister's back as she wept.

"Scorpius," Professor Longbottom said tentatively, "do you know how your mother died?"

Scorpius nodded without looking up.

"Did you and your sister….did you watch it happen?" he asked, even slower this time.

Scorpius nodded again and heard one of them, maybe both, suck in their breath.

"What was it?" he asked, so softly Scorpius almost had to strain to hear him.

"Avada Kedavra," Scorpius whispered, even lower still.

Aria let out a sob and said, "Mama," again.

"She saw the green light," Professor Longbottom said. "She associates the green fires with the green light that…"

He did not finish his sentence, and Scorpius silently thanked him for that. He did not want to hear what they were all thinking: Aria set off uncontrollable green fires when she missed their mum because she'd seen the same blinding green light that Scorpius had when their mother had been killed.

"Do you know who did it?" the professor asked.

Scorpius shook his head. "Just that they were Death Eaters. They came late one night, when we were all watching the muggle TV. Dad was in the bathroom. They said….they said it was payback, for my father deserting the dark lord years ago at the battle. My dad heard them yell the curse, but he didn't get there in time to save her."

"Nothing could have," Professor Longbottom said softly.

"They put a curse on my father too," Scorpius continued. "Made it to where he couldn't move, but could still watch. They'd already killed our mum, and they were going to make him watch as they tortured us."

Professor Longbottom looked up at this, his eyes burning.

"What did they do?"

"They yelled 'Crucio!' and my whole body hurt, my mind hurt. I wished they'd just kill me, like they did my mum. But then it all stopped, and I knew they'd go for Aria next."

Clarie looked sick, her father livid.

"They didn't," Clarie said, her hand to her mouth.

"No," Scorpius shook his head. "They would have, except my dad didn't seem to care much about what happened to us. He kept his eyes on our mum, ignoring my screams when they put that curse on me, ignoring Aria's cries as she yanked at our mums hand. That's when they realized they'd hurt him most deeply by killing our mum. They said they should have tortured her instead of us, that they weren't planning on killing his kids, only making him watch as they tortured us.

"They were really mad, and put the curse they'd done on me on my dad. He screamed and screamed for what felt like hours, but couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Then they left. My dad crawled over to our mum, pushing Aria away. She was crying, and kept asking for our mum, but Dad kept screaming at her to go away, and she finally came to me. She hasn't wanted to go near our dad since.

"That's why he took up drinking," Scorpius said, pausing only momentarily to place Aria, who was now asleep, in her bed. "He didn't care about anything anymore. He hated his children, he hated his life, and he didn't care what happened after that. Yes, he loved our mother, but us? No, I think, to him, we died right along with her."

Clarie had tears running down her face now. She got up and hugged Scorpius tightly.

Professor Longbottom was still looking slightly horrified.

"So that's why," he murmured.

"What's why?" Clarie asked, pulling back from Scorpius and wiping her eyes.

"That's why he's acting the way he is," Professor Longbottom said, finally looking up. "Those Death Eaters must've been really stupid. Scorpius, that first spell they used on your father would've made it impossible for him to move, to react. He might have cared more than you think."

"But they took it off him!" Scorpius said, almost angrily, but he wasn't quite sure who he was even angry at. "They took the spell off him, and he didn't care about us then!"

"Scorpius," he said, looking incredibly tired now. It was the first time Scorpius had ever thought he looked old, but he could see now that the professor's hair had started to grey a bit. "The cruciatus curse can make you go insane if it's used on you for too long. You only had it for a bit, and I know it must have hurt worse than anything you'd ever experienced, but there's a difference. The longer it's on you, the worse your mind becomes. It's one of the most cruel things you can do to a person, even worse than the killing curse, in my own personal opinion."

Clarie was staring at her father now, her wide eyes filling with tears again. "Is that what happened to them?" She whispered.

Professor Longbottom nodded.

"To who?" Scorpius asked.

"My parents," he said, closing his eyes. Clarie had gotten up and reached for his hand. Professor Longbottom pulled her into his lap, almost absentmindedly. "Voldemort's Death Eaters, Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband, used it on them. My parents were aurors and I was only a year old, and that woman tortured them for information. My parents wouldn't give it, so they used the cruciatus curse on them, which eventually drove them out of their mind. They are in St. Mungo's as we speak, unable to recognize their own son. They haven't been able to recognize me for as long as I can remember, but I do remember the screaming…"

Scorpius looked up, and only then realized his face was wet. He'd been crying, thinking back on that dreadful memory, and also on this new information. Could Scorpius even dare think his father might have cared about him, just been unable to show it because of the curses put upon him?

"You know who you should talk to?" Professor Longbottom said suddenly. "Albus and James's dad. He was only a year old when his parents died, but he'll tell anyone who asks he can still remember the green light."

"I just don't want my sister to set herself on fire," Scorpius said wearily. He didn't know about talking to Harry Potter…

"Rose's mum might know something," Clarie said shrugging.

But she didn't. Hermione Weasley sent them an owl several days later, saying how incredibly sorry she was, and though she would continue looking, she knew of nothing to prevent Aria from setting the fires.

She also agreed not to tell Rose of any of this, which he was incredibly grateful for. Rose was already very suspicious about the subject of his sister (and his whole family, really), that he really didn't want to give her another clue to figure out what's been going on. And if her mother had said something about the green fires, Scorpius was sure Rose would know exactly what was happening.

* * *

Rose was almost spluttering when she found out that Scorpius would be staying with Clarie and the Longbottoms over the summer.

"Why?" Rose asked. She couldn't in her wildest dreams imagine why he wouldn't want to go home for the summer. He'd stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas, and hadn't seen his family in nearly a year.

"My parents are away," he said. Rose stared at him.

"And you aren't going away with them? What kind of vacation is so important that they can't take their son?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Non-refundable tickets, I guess. They'll probably write."

"What about your sister?" Rose asked.

"What about her?"

Was it just Rose's imagination, or did he look really nervous when she brought up Aria Malfoy?

"Aren't you going to miss her? You took such great care of her last summer in Diagon Alley and on the train…"

"If you want me to go home alone so bad, I'm sure I can convince Professor Longbottom that my family is totally there and just throw a couple of wild parties instead," Scorpius said dryly. That was the only kind of humor Rose had ever heard him use; dry. "I'm sure we'll get drunk enough to use a bunch of magic and get expelled from Hogwarts. But who cares? No parents! Sounds like a blast!"

He was definitely being overly sarcastic now. Rose rolled her eyes and pushed him. "Whatever, let's just go to the carriages."

They walked for another five minutes or so to where the carriages sat waiting for them. Scorpius jumped in surprise. "What the bloody blazes are those things?"

Rose blinked and looked at the carriages. She knew what was supposed to be there, only because her parents, aunts and uncles had told her of the thestrals' existence. But, of course, Rose had never seen one, because she'd never seen someone die.

"What's it look like?" she asked Scorpius, her eyes narrowing.

"Like a horse, but dead," he said, his eyes wide with horror. "All skin. You can see the skeleton and the eye sockets…." He shuddered.

Rose gulped. "If I were you," she said slowly, "I wouldn't tell anyone else that you can see these things."

"Why?" Scorpius asked, his eyes widening. "Can't everyone?"

Rose shook her head, hating to tell him but knowing she had to. "No, they can't. Only….Only people who've seen death can see them."

Scorpius went white. "Would...Would you believe me if I told you I knew that and said 'Gotcha!' because this is all a big joke and I can't really see them?"

"No," Rose said quietly. "You don't have that kind of humor."

"Well it doesn't matter," Scorpius said abruptly, turning away. "I'm staying in Hogsmeade for the summer, remember?

Rose sighed. "Be sure and visit us when Neville comes over."

Scorpius nodded, not turning back around. "Will do. See you Rose."

And he left, never once turning his head back around to look at her.

Albus dragged his trunk over to where she was standing and stared at Malfoy's retreating back as well. "What's up with him?"

* * *

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 **-Daddysgirl11**


	5. Going Home

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever. I haven't had much inspiration lately, and I'm kind of stuck on the PJO/HoO series right now.**

 **I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Scorpius glared at the letter in his hands. Almost an entire year with no contact from his father, and now he sent a letter demanding he and Aria return home for the summer. Scorpius had only been at the Longbottoms' house for a week, but he knew he didn't want to leave. But his father had parental rights that he would surely never give up.

Scorpius didn't tell the Longbottoms he was leaving until the night before he was supposed to floo home.

"What do you mean you're _leaving?"_ Hannah roared. She had her hands on her hips and a fierce glare. "You can't just leave!"

"I have to," Scorpius told her. "We don't have a choice, he's our dad."

"You've been here a week!" Clarie screeched, equally as angry as her mother. "You can't go back to that man, Scorpius. You just can't!"

"I can and I will. It's not up for discussion." Scorpius turned and picked up his little sister. "Thank you so much for your hospitality Mrs. Longbottom-"

"I told you to call me Hannah."

"-but I've stayed long enough. I'll be going in the morning."

"No you won't," Clarie said defiantly. She moved to block the corridor.

"Yes I will. Now, Clarie, I won't say it again. Move of of my way please."

She didn't move.

"Clarie, step out of Scorpius's way," Professor Longbottom, who had been quiet until now, said, issuing a deep sigh. He ran a hand over his face, looking exhausted. "He doesn't live with us. He can do as he likes. If Scorpius wishes to return to his father's house for the summer, we aren't going to tell him he can't."

Scorpius didn't look at the professor. He couldn't. Professor Longbottom had always been so good to him, and now Scorpius was throwing the man's kindness back in his face and saying he preferred to go back to his own father, whom he didn't even get along with.

"Thank you sir," Scorpius said, looking at the ground. "I'll go pack our things."

* * *

"Are you ready?" Professor Longbottom asked. The three of them (Scorpius, Aria and Professor Longbottom) were standing outside the gates of Malfoy Manor. Hannah and Clarie hadn't wanted to come; they'd been furious with both Scorpius and Professor Longbottom for thinking it was best Scorpius and Aria went back home.

It was odd, Scorpius thought, to be so close to the home he grew up in, yet feel a thousand miles away.

"Yes sir," Scorpius said, and he moved forward. The gates recognized him as a Malfoy automatically (even Aria could've gotten them in if she'd wanted) and granted all three of them access.

"Mummy!"

Aria was pointing at the manor home as it came into view. Scorpius bent down to pick her up, holding her tight to his chest. The last thing they needed was for her to start a fire on their first day back because she associated their house with their mother.

"And you're sure you don't want to stay with us this summer?" Professor Longbottom asked. "Because it's really no trouble…"

"I know," Scorpius said thickly. "Thank you, again, for letting us stay as long as we did, and for helping all year with Aria. It really means a lot."

"Of course," said the professor. He sighed, and stopped just outside the door, where he levitated the rest of Scorpius and his sister's trunks to the place they now stood. "Alright, well I suppose I'll see you again when school starts back. Rose's mum will be by later this afternoon, I think."

Scorpius nodded. He really didn't know what to say. Words could not express how grateful he was for everything the professor had done for his family this past year.

"Thanks," was all Scorpius said, however, and he moved to open the door. Professor Longbottom nodded once, curtly, and walked back towards the gates. Scorpius waited until he got outside the gates, and saw him apparate away, before he went inside himself.

Scorpius set Aria back down on the ground. "Alright Ari, go play in the sitting room. I'll be there in a minute." His sister ran off into the house, and Scorpius was left with the job of levitating their trunks inside and up the stairs. He was not worried about the Ministry expelling him from Hogwarts for underage magic. They were in an area where much magic occurred, and there was no way the Ministry could tell if it were Scorpius or his father (or even Aria) who'd cast a spell, especially with Scorpius's advanced magic level. And Scorpius was almost positive that Professor Longbottom hadn't told anyone about his father's condition, except maybe a few of his friends and a St. Mungo's nurse, all of whom checked in on Scorpius's father regularly.

Scorpius hoped his father hadn't heard them arrive, but he should have known he could not have been so lucky.

"WHO THE BLOODY BLAZES IS IN MY HOUSE?"

Scorpius sighed. He took his time walking to his father's bedroom, and the smell hit him as soon as he walked in. It still smelled like firewhiskey and other kinds of alcohol Scorpius couldn't identify, but having been away from the stench for almost a year, the shock of it almost made him retch.

"Hullo Father."

Draco looked surprised to see him there. "Scorp? That you?"

Scorpius nodded, standing as close to his father as he dared.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"You wrote me." Scorpius's ears were ringing. Had his father not known they were coming home? "You said Aria and I had to come home."

His father grunted. "Didn't expect you back so soon. Why aren't you in school?"

"School got out a week ago, Dad."

Silence.

"Dad?"

"If school let out a week ago," his father said slowly, sitting up in his bed, "why are you only getting here now? Where have you been?"

He sounded angry. Scorpius backed away a few steps, in case his dad started reaching for him.

"I was staying with a friend," Scorpius said quickly. "I-I didn't think you wanted us back, after-well, after you found out where I was sorted."

His father was looking at him like he was crazy. "You were sorted into Slytherin, obviously." When Scorpius didn't say anything, his father sat up a bit straighter. "You _were_ sorted into Slytherin, weren't you? Or Ravenclaw?"

Scorpius's mum was in Slytherin, just like his father, but she'd always encouraged him to try his best in his studies, so that he might become a Ravenclaw. Apparently, one of Astoria Malfoy's best friends had been a Ravenclaw, and the house was a very noble one.

Scorpius knew his mother wouldn't have cared where he was sorted, however. Even though she was a Slytherin in her years, the second Wizarding War had changed her, and she probably would have been proud to have her son in Gryffindor.

His father, on the other hand….

"No sir," Scorpius told him, looking down. "No, I wasn't….sorted in either of those."

"Not Hufflepuff, surely? Never knew you to be soft…"

"No sir," Scorpius said again, still not looking up.

His father threw his hands up in the air. "Well did they just not sort you, then? There's no other options!"

There was one other option, and his father knew it, but apparently the thought of a Malfoy being in Gryffindor was so absurd, it wasn't even to be considered.

"Yes sir," Scorpius told him, "I was sorted. Just not in Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff."

His father merely stared at him, long and hard. It was several moments before he spoke again, and when he did, Scorpius wished he hadn't. "Get out."

"W-What?"

"Get out," his father repeated, quite calmly. "Get out of my room. Get out of my house, for all I care. No son of mine would ever be a Gryffindor."

Scorpius stumbled over his own feet in his haste to leave the room. No matter how accustomed he'd become to his father's insults and putdowns, Draco Malfoy had never said Scorpius wasn't his son. He'd never acted so...ashamed. Ashamed of him, to be related to him.

"Oh, hello Scorpius."

Scorpius stopped so abruptly, he ran right into a woman. Rose's mother was standing there, beaming down at him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Mrs. Weasley-"

"Oh please, Mrs. Weasley is my mother-in-law," she said laughing. "Call me Hermione, I insist."

Scorpius was hardly okay with this. He'd been taught to call adults 'Mr' and 'Mrs', never by their first name. But Mrs. Longbottom-Hannah-and now Rose's mother, were _insisting_ he do just that.

"Okay…" Scorpius said awkwardly. "Um, what are you doing here?"

"Oh!" She said brightly. "Neville didn't tell you? I was supposed to be coming by tonight anyway, but he sent an owl saying that you'd be here and I just wanted to meet you."

Scorpius had never met Rose's mother before, but he'd seen pictures of her, and she'd even gone as far as to send him a Christmas present. She'd sent him a book, which Rose told him was what most of her mother's gifts to those outside of her immediate family was.

Rose's grandmother had knitted him a sweater, too, actually. Her whole family seemed to be unfailingly kind.

"Oh, well, thank you." Scorpius was always pretty bad at introductions. "Er, did you happen to see if my little sister was downstairs?"

She nodded, still smiling. "Precious little girl," she told him, "just like Rose said. And absolutely adorable. She was playing in the sitting room when I arrived and pointed towards the stairs when I asked where you'd gotten to. Have you...have you seen your father yet?"

Scorpius had become very good at masking his emotions. "Yes ma'am," he told her. "He's not really up for company."

Unfortunately, she seemed to understand that 'not up for company' meant that he'd said something awful.

"Oh dear," she said softly. "I wouldn't...I wouldn't worry too much, about what he says. He's ill. He doesn't know what he's saying."

Scorpius nodded, not meeting her eyes. "I know. I was just giving you fair warning in case you decide you still want to go up there. He's in a foul mood."

"What else is new?"

It was easy to see now that Rose was an awful lot like her mother.

"I'm going to check on Aria. You're welcome to anything you like in the house, it makes no difference to me."

Hermione frowned at him as he walked past her and down the stairs, and he could still feel her eyes on him as he walked into the sitting room where his sister sat on the floor with her stuffed owl.

"Hey Ari," he said softly, bending down. "What are you up to?"

"Snowy," she told him, holding up the owl to his face. Scorpius laughed and nodded.

"Snowy's quite a lovely bird, isn't she?'

"Uh huh. Just like you biwd but white."

Scorpius smiled. It was only then that he realized that his bird, a tawny barn owl, was perched on the table in the far corner of the room with a letter in his mouth.

"Alden," Scorpius said in surprise. He stood and walked over to the sofa. "Come here boy."

The bird swooped down from the table and landed on Scorpius's knee. Scorpius patted the bird's head and took the letter from his mouth. "Thanks Alden, I'll get you some food after I've read my letter."

The owl, evidently understanding, flew back to it's spot on the table.

Scorpius recognized the handwriting on the letter as Rose's the moment he opened it.

 _Dear Scorpius,_

 _I received a letter last night from Clarie saying you were returning home. Why didn't you tell me you were only staying with her for a week? I thought you meant all summer!_

 _Anyhow, I have loads to tell you! You see, I live marginally close to a muggle town, and my grandfather, brother and I all went down for a bit. That was an experience in and of itself. Hugo and Grandpa Arthur are big muggle fans, so they got excited over the simplest things. Just for the sake of curiosity, you know what a cellular phone is, don't you? Muggle communication device…_

 _Listen to me, jabbering on about muggle nonsense. Well, not that a cellphone is particularly nonsense. It's actually quite an ingenious invention. I'll have to ask Mum if I can have one for the summers. They get internet! Do you realize how much simpler our lives at Hogwarts would be if we had internet? Someone's got to figure out how to make technology work around magic. Especially for the muggleborns. Can you imagine growing up with internet all your life and then learning you have to use quills and books and such?_

 _Off topic! Why do you keep letting me do that? Well, in any case, Albus's birthday is week after next and we were so hoping you could make it. Clarie's already said she's coming, and I'd hate for her to be his only friend outside of the family to be there, because she attends our family gatherings with her father anyway. Albus would just love it if you could come. Do you think your parents would let you? They could come too if they like, and your little sister. We have plenty of room. In case you do decide to come, we'll be having it at Number 12 Grimmauld Place in London. You could probably just floo there. Hope to see you soon!_

 _With lots of love,_

 _Rose Weasley_

Scorpius laughed out loud. Aria glanced over at him for a second before turning back to her toys. "Rose Weasley," Scorpius said, mostly to himself, "if I have to sneak us out of here with a disillusionment charm, I'll be there."

"Well that's good to know."

Scorpius jumped. He'd almost forgotten Hermione Weasley was in his house at all.

She smiled at him. "Sorry, startled you again I see. Is that a letter from my daughter?"

Scorpius nodded. "Heaven only knows how she got hold of my owl, though."

Hermione shook her head. "I wouldn't be surprised if she coerced Clarie Longbottom into sending him when he returned."

Scorpius grinned. "That sounds like Rose."

Hermione was looking at him very oddly. "So Rose invited you to Albus's birthday?"

Scorpius nodded.

"I can arrange for someone to come and floo you to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, if you really want to come. Rose may be part secret keeper, and can tell you that it's there, but the security measures set in place are quite extensive. I can send Victorie Weasley and Teddy Lupin…."

"We can travel close by and let someone meet us-"

"No, that's much too excessive. They'll floo you there," she told him, in a tone of finality.

Scorpius sighed. "How's my dad?"

She pursed her lips.

Scorpius offered her a half smile. "Charming as ever, then?"

Hermione was rubbing at her arm unconsciously. "You could say that, I suppose. He seemed to be in a worse mood than usual."

Scorpius frowned. "Did he hurt you? If he did…"

She smiled at him, shaking her head. "You're a sweet boy, but no, Draco wouldn't hurt me, I think."

Scorpius wasn't convinced. "But your arm…"

"Oh!" She smiled sheepishly and pulled her shirt sleeve up to reveal the word 'MUDBLOOD' scrawled on her lower arm. "I just sometimes….forget-or, rather I remember, that is."

Scorpius's eyes were wide. He, of course, knew Rose's mother was muggleborn, but he never would've imagined she'd have done something like _that_ to herself.

"Mrs. Weasley…" He whispered.

"Hermione," she corrected him, a tiny smile still on her face. "Don't worry, I didn't do it to myself. It's from the Second Wizarding War. I was, er, interrogated, so to say, for something I didn't do."

"B-b-by _who_?" Scorpius almost shouted. "Who would do something so terrible? Why would-?"

"It doesn't matter, they're dead." Hermione tugged her sleeve down, and glanced around the room. She did not act as if she realized Scorpius was even in the room.

"Hermione," he said tentatively. She started and turned to look at him. "Did my dad do it? Is that why you don't like my house?"

She hesitated.

"Please," Scorpius pressed, "I'd rather know the truth…"

Hermione sighed. "It wasn't your father," she told him. "Honest, it wasn't. It was your great aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange. She thought I stole the Sword of Gryffindor out of her vault at Gringotts, and she thought that my friends and I might have stolen something else that belonged to...to-"

"Voldemort?" Scorpius supplied.

She nodded, seemingly surprised that Scorpius wasn't afraid to say the name. "Yes. Voldemort had hidden something there, a very powerful something that could prevent his death, and she was terrified that we'd taken that too."

"Did you?"

She gave a wry grin. "Not then. But she gave us the idea to. We were taken prisoner here, and ironically escaped by the bravery of your grandparents' old house elf that Harry tricked your grandfather into setting free. Dobby was a good elf. Everyone loved him…"

"Did someone in my family kill him?" Scorpius asked, guessing the answer.

She nodded. "Bellatrix did, yes. Threw a knife when we were disapparating."

"I'm sorry." Scorpius put his head down. "My dad really did change after the war, you know. My grandparents might be as awful as ever but my dad really did change."

Hermione smiled. "I know sweetie. Listen, I need to get going, but I'll see you again at the party, alright?"

Scorpius nodded silently.

Hermione beamed at him and, to his utter astonishment, leaned down to give him a hug. "Goodbye Scorpius. Bye Aria!"

"Bye-Bye," Aria said, waving from the floor.

"Goodbye," Scorpius said awkwardly, "and thank you."

She gave him one last, understanding smile, and left.

Scorpius turned to his sister when the door was shut. "Wanna help me write a letter?"

Aria grinned toothily up at him.

* * *

It was the day of Albus's birthday when Rose finally received Scorpius's reply to her invitation.

 _Dear Rose,_

 _So sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I wrote you a reply as soon as Alden showed up at home with your letter, but apparently he got lost and confused trying to return the letter to the address you mentioned. I realized my mistake, and just told him to send it to you straight away._

 _Now, on the subject of Albus's birthday, Aria and I will definitely be there. My parents won't be able to make it. I assume my father would just rather not have contact with your dad or uncle, and I wouldn't want to upset anyone on Albus's birthday._

 _As for muggle devices, I honestly have no idea what a cellular phone is. Is it something like a telephone? I think I've heard of that, at least. Don't forget, I come from a line of bigoted purebloods; Slytherins at that. Do you really think I know of muggle things? You have much to teach me, my friend._

 _I'm afraid my second reply is much shorter than my first. Aria and I need to get ready to leave. See you in a bit. We'll be flooing there with your cousin, Victorie, and someone called Teddy Lupin._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Scorpius Malfoy_

Rose couldn't help laughing. She rubbed the barn owl's head and gave him a few owl pellets before sending him off. Alden, as Scorpius had called him, was a very pretty bird. He wasn't showy like an eagle owl, and wasn't gorgeous like a snow owl, but he had a certain charm to him.

"Al!" Rose yelled, skidding into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place. "Scorpius and his little sister are coming. I've just gotten his owl."

"That's great!" Albus said, beaming. "Haven't seen the bloke in two weeks. I just hope Clarie's not still mad at him. Has she told you what that's about yet?"

"No," Rose shook her head, sighing. "Those two are always fighting, though. I wouldn't be surprised if she was mad that he ate the last cookie or something while he was staying at her house the first week off."

They both laughed. Clarie was known to hold a grudge over absolutely nothing.

They both looked up when Ginny, Albus's mum, walked in the room with a cake box in her arms. "Out," she told her son, but held her hand up when Rose went to follow. "Not you, I need your help in here."

"Mum," Albus said, frowning. "Scorpius and his sister will be here soon, can't she-"

"No," Aunt Ginny told him firmly. "Now shoo. Don't make me get your dad and uncles to drag you out."

Albus rolled his eyes. Rose shrugged at him as he stalked grumpily from the kitchen.

Aunt Ginny opened the box. "What do you think?"

Rose blinked at the cake. It was plain white-no decoration whatsoever. "Um, Aunt Ginny...it seems to be missing something."

Ginny laughed. "No, what should I put on it? What does Albus love most at the moment?"

Rose thought about that. Albus's favorite quidditch team was obviously the Holyhead Harpies, but that was because his mother had played for them professionally.

"Make it Gryffindor," Rose said decidedly. She knew, though Albus hadn't spoken to her about it directly, that Albus had been most proud of himself for being sorted into Gryffindor. He'd been so worried about getting sorted into Slytherin because of James's teasing. Rose had felt that way herself, too, though she would have been quite fine with being sorted into Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

"Gryffindor?" Ginny asked, her tone interested. "You think? Like, quidditch, or a lion, or…?"

"No." Rose shook her head. "Not quidditch. Just everything Gryffindor represents. You didn't hear this from me, but he didn't think he'd be sorted there. He's so happy...I think he'd like to see how proud you and Uncle Harry are of him for being sorted there as well, but not that the two of you are pressuring him to make the quidditch team, you know?"

Aunt Ginny seemed impressed. "Yes, I think that's a wonderful idea. Thanks Rosie."

Rose watched enviously as her aunt waved her wand and the cake was transformed into a beautiful replica of Rose and Albus's house colors, mascot, and representations of bravery. Even the Sorting Hat made an appearance at the very top of the cake.

"Aunt Ginny?"

"Mhm?" Aunt Ginny said as she put a few more finishing touches on the cake.

"Did you know Teddy and Victorie were going to get Scorpius today?"

Aunt Ginny bit her lip. "I...might have heard."

Rose sighed exasperatedly. "And no one decided to tell the kids. I just got his owl, you know."

Aunt Ginny laughed. "Well I only just heard, really. Teddy told me as he and Vic left to collect him."

Rose just shook her head.

"So tell me about your Malfoy friend," Ginny said. She had finally finished with the cake, and now sat back on a stool, her expression carefully neutral.

Rose narrowed her eyes at her aunt. "What do you want to know?"

Ginny shrugged. "Just what he's like. I never met his mother, and I only saw his father in the….difficult time. I was just wondering what he was like. I mean, he has to be a good kid if you, Al and Clarie all like him. Even James speaks of him with nothing but nice words, if a bit grudgingly."

Rose grinned. "Oh James loves him, he just doesn't want to admit it because of the feud between Uncle Harry and Scorpius's dad. He doesn't want to upset any of you."

Aunt Ginny frowned. "I'm going to need to keep up a running correspondence with you this year. I never know the truth about what's going on with my sons. They always leave out these things."

Rose had always liked her aunt, and was completely fine with this idea. It would be fun to rat out her cousins when they skirted details with their parents.

"Mummy, where's Fred's broom?"

Ginny sighed. "I don't know, Lily. Ask your father."

Lily's bright red hair appeared in the doorway. "Daddy said to ask you."

"Then ask your uncle."

"Which one?"

Ginny squeezed her eyes shut tight, a look of exasperation on her face. "Any of them."

Lily grumbled something under her breath, but left them alone.

"Scorpius is awesome," Rose said, when the door shut behind her ten-year-old cousin. "He's very good with his little sister. He's awesome at chess, and he and I are constantly in competition for the best grades in our year. I beat him in charms, but he got a few points above me in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Rose let just a bit of acidity creep into her voice. She was still mad at him about this.

Ginny grinned. "Blame Hermione for that. It was the only subject she didn't get an O in on her OWLs."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "I still did better than Albus."

"Hm." Ginny looked at her for a moment, then grinned. "Yes, well, he doesn't have to be just like his parents. It's good for him to branch out."

"He's very good a Transfiguration," Rose informed her.

"And Potions."

"I think he did that because he's named after a Potions master."

Ginny laughed. "And a Transfiguration master." She glanced at the clock on the wall, and jumped up. "Your friends will be here any minute and it looks like Grandma Molly is here. We'd better get going."

* * *

 **Hey guys! Thanks for sticking with me on this. Hopefully second year will start for the group within the next two chapters, but I could be wrong.**

 **Alden the owl is named so because it means friendship. I thought that was cute considering Scorpius wouldn't really have had any friends besides that owl before Hogwarts.**

 ***I don't own anything you recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	6. Albus's Birthday

**Sorry it's been so long guys. I only had 5 chapters pre-written and this one was taking a while for me to figure out where I wanted it to go.**

 **I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

Scorpius was helping Aria into her tiny robes, and nearly had a heart attack when Victorie Weasley and a boy with turquoise hair suddenly appeared in their fireplace.

"Merlin's beard!" He exclaimed, hand flying to his heart.

"Hi Scorpius!" Victorie said, beaming. "Oh, let me help you with that."

Scorpius stepped back and gratefully allowed Victorie to finish helping Aria into her pink robes.

The turquoise-haired boy stepped forward and offered his hand to Scorpius, who shook it hesitantly.

"I'm Teddy Lupin," said the boy. "My, er, family I guess you'd say, told me a lot about you. I'm told we're cousins."

This was a shock. "Scorpius Malfoy," said Scorpius unnecessarily. "And that's my sister, Aria."

Teddy walked all the way around the room, examining everything curiously. Scorpius watched with apprehension on his face. This boy was a bit strange, with his blue hair and all. Scorpius worried about what he (and Victorie, for that matter) thought of the manor house.

"Nice place you've got here," said Teddy. Scorpius noticed Victorie glance their way as she lifted Aria up into her arms.

"I thought it'd be better if I flooed her in. That okay with you?" Victorie asked. Scorpius nodded wordlessly. "Good. Everyone's so very excited the two of you are coming today."

Scorpius glanced at his watch. It was 9:30 in the morning.

"Um, can we go?" Scorpius asked awkwardly.

"Oh, of course!" Victorie was always so bright and cheery, even in his dreary house.

Unfortunately, it was at that very second Scorpius's father decided to wake up.

"SCORPIUS, WHERE IS MY DRINK?"

Scorpius winced. Victorie and Teddy had both turned to look at the stairs with wide eyes, Victorie clutching Aria tighter to her chest as if protecting her from their father's wrath.

"I'm coming Dad!" Scorpius shouted back. He gave the others an apologetic look and said quickly, "I'll be right back. I'm sorry about this."

He took off for the stairs. He'd made the mistake that morning of leaving his father's door open in case he needed something. "What do you need, Dad?" Scorpius asked when he walked into his father's room. He really hoped Draco would forget that he'd just asked for a drink.

"Fire whiskey, brandy, I don't care! JUST GET ME A DRINK!"

Scorpius winced. "Dad, you don't need a drink. Wouldn't you rather have water or coffee?"

"Don't you tell me what I want!"

Scorpius sighed. He was sure the people downstairs could hear everything his father said, and it was embarrassing. What a way to start the day.

"Dad. Aria's going to hear you…"

"I DON'T CARE!"

Backing away, Scorpius said, "I'm going to get you some coffee. How do you take it?"

"Drowned in fire whiskey," Draco growled. Scorpius shot him a dark look.

"Black, then. Don't get up, Dad."

He ran down the stairs, not pausing to look at his guests. He was busy making the coffee when a voice interrupted him. "Let me do that."

Not even a second later, Teddy Lupin had waved his wand and a fresh mug of coffee appeared.

"How did you do that?" Scorpius asked, frowning. "Food can't-"

"I stole it from my godfather," Teddy laughed. "He'll get over it. He probably won't even remember he made coffee."

Scorpius stared at him.

"Really," Teddy said, a little quieter, "he won't mind."

Scorpius only nodded and took the coffee mug in his hands. "I'll be down in a minute," he muttered.

His father was very unappreciative of the coffee. "Just drink it!" Scorpius snapped at him, when Draco refused to take it from his son for a third time. "I have things to do today!"

His father glared at him with such hatred that Scorpius backed up a step.

"You'll do what I tell you to do," Draco growled, "and I'm telling you to get me a bloody drink, or I won't let you go back to Hogwarts this year!"

Scorpius set his jaw. "Yeah, that won't be happening." Before he could even fully comprehend what he was doing, Scorpius raised his wand and shouted, "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

His father's arms locked to his side. His eyes were wide as he stared up at his son from his bed. Scorpius leaned forward, his eyes daggers. "You are going to stay like this until I get back, Dad. Aria and I are going back to Hogwarts come September whether you like it or not."

He could feel his father's murderous gaze boring into the back of his head all the way out of the room. Scorpius let out a sigh of relief at the top of the stairs, telling himself it would be okay, that he wouldn't be expelled.

Victorie met him at the bottom of the stairs. Teddy was now holding Aria, and they were standing very close to the fire.

"If anyone asks," she muttered urgently, taking the wand out of his hand, "I performed that spell. And if they demand to look at your wand, you tell them I grabbed it out of your hands when your father reached for it, and I acted without a second thought. You tell them I panicked, and-"

Scorpius cut her off. "No I will not. If 'they' ask me anything, I'm telling the truth."

Victorie looked helplessly between Scorpius and Teddy, and back again. "But…"

"They won't ask." Scorpius told her firmly. "They never ask about magic at the Malfoys', not even when there was an attack and unforgivable curses were issued. Let's go."

They followed him wordlessly into the fireplace. Teddy called out, "Percy Weasley's house, London!"

* * *

It was always uncomfortable traveling by floo powder, but not nearly as uncomfortable as it was when Scorpius opened his eyes to see four unfamiliar people staring back at him.

Scorpius reached for Aria instinctively, and Teddy handed her over.

"Hullo, and welcome to our house," said the redheaded man with glasses. He had a hand on a woman's shoulder, and there were two little girls standing in front of them.

"Er, hi," Scorpius said uncomfortably. "I'm Scorpius."

The man seemed to be looking Scorpius over, evaluating him. Scorpius tried not to be offended. This man must've known his father too.

"Cool name!" said one of the girls. "I'm Lucy Weasley."

How many Weasleys were there?

The other girl looked a bit familiar. Scorpius thought he might've seen her hanging around James at school sometimes.

"I'm Molly II," said the older girl. "Ravenclaw, about to be a fourth year."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows. This girl seemed a bit...pompous.

"Audrey Weasley," said the woman, moving forward to envelope Scorpius's hand. Scorpius noticed that the younger girl, Lucy, seemed to be more like her mother in personality than Molly II.

Finally, the man stepped forward. "Percy Weasley."

That made more sense. Rose had told Scorpius about her Uncle Percy.

"This is Aria," Scorpius coughed.

"Yeah, and now that that's been clarified," said Teddy, "I believe my god brother is waiting for us. Where's the portkey?"

They all gathered around a broken lamp. Scorpius held tight to his sister and told her to put her hand on the lamp (just in case). Scorpius had never traveled by portkey before.

There was suddenly a pull behind Scorpius's naval, and he tightened his hold on Aria convulsively.

They hit the ground hard. Scorpius landed on his shoulder, and folded his arms across his chest to protect Aria from the fall. They really needed better ways for traveling with a baby in the Wizarding world.

"SCORPIUS!"

Scorpius was suddenly being lifted to his feet, and Aria was taken from his arms. He opened his eyes to see Rose Weasley grinning at him, his sister squirming in her arms.

Albus was standing behind him, too, having helped Scorpius up when he fell.

"You alright buddy?" Albus laughed.

"Yeah." Scorpius rolled his shoulder, a rueful smile on his face. "Happy Birthday, Al. Hope you know what it took to get here."

Everyone laughed. Scorpius noticed Percy Weasley and his family were missing, and that Victorie and Teddy were waiting for them a few feet away.

"Let's go inside and we'll get Neville to find some plant for your shoulder when he gets here," Albus said. The four of them walked forward to stand between two buildings: number 11 and number 13. Scorpius had some idea of what was about to happen, but it was still cool watching the buildings move without muggle notice and show Number 12 Grimmauld Place appear. The fidelius charm was really a wonder to behold.

"Welcome to our not-so-happy-looking home," said Albus.

The place strongly reminded Scorpius of his manor home. That was a bit unsettling. It seemed so….pureblood.

Well, not all of it. There were splashes of color on the walls where they didn't look like they should belong, and family photographs displaying many, many happy people all over the place. It was like someone had tried to make a dismal place cheery, much like Scorpius's mother had done when she lived in the manor.

Scorpius knew this wasn't Albus's only house, but that he stayed here just as much as any other house he lived in. It was kind of hard to believe.

"Scorpius!"

There was a flash of red hair, and a short little girl suddenly launched herself at him. She looked about nine, and Scorpius was positive he had never seen her before in his life. He staggered back in surprise as she hugged him tight.

"Scorp, this is my little sister," Albus said, obviously trying hard not to laugh. "She….likes most people."

Albus's sister pulled away, beaming at him. "I'm Lily," she said.

"I'm Scorpius," he said, bemused.

"SCORPIUS HYPERION MALFOY!"

Scorpius winced. "How does she know my middle name?"

Albus snorted with laughter. At least he was enjoying himself, Scorpius thought ruefully. It was his birthday, after all.

"Hullo Clarie," Scorpius said politely as he turned around to face her. He knew one thing now that he should have figured out the moment he first met her: Clarissa Longbottom was not someone to be crossed.

Clarie stomped forward, her blonde hair flying around her furious face. She pointed a threatening finger at his chest. "I'm still mad at you."

Scorpius nodded. "I figured that."

Rose stepped between the two. "Now guys, can't we all get along? It's Al's birthday…."

"I don't mind," said Albus in amusement. Rose shot him a look.

" _And_ ," she stressed, "Scorpius's little sister will hear you. Should she really hear you yelling at each other?"

Scorpius saw Clarie blink at her, then look down at Aria in Rose's arms. A small smile spread across her face, and she held out her arms. "Come here Ari," she whispered.

Aria immediately lunged forward. Both girls moved quickly so she didn't fall, and Clarie laughed, pulling her into her arms. "How's my favorite little girl?" she cooed.

Albus and Rose were staring at Clarie with their eyes wide and their jaws slack. Scorpius realized quite suddenly that they didn't know Clarie had ever met his sister before.

"She saw her before I went home," Scorpius explained to the two of them. "Aria took to her."

This was technically true. Clarie had seen Aria before Scorpius went home, but he'd been taking Aria home with him.

Lily, who had disappeared when Clarie showed up, walked back over to them, and looked quizzically between Scorpius and Clarie. "Are you two dating?"

Everyone had entirely different reactions to this. Clarie went white in the face, and Rose went red. Albus looked away from the group, and Scorpius, meanwhile, could only stare at the little girl in bewilderment.

"No," Scorpius said, "why would you think that?"

"I'm ten" said Lily, "not blind."

Now Rose turned away too. "Lily, leave them alone. Come on, I'll help you find your owl."

"But I sent my owl to-" Lily started, but Rose cut her off.

"Come on Lily."

"You don't have to leave…" Scorpius protested, but they were already walking away. Lily waved back at them before they left.

Scorpius sighed and turned back around. Albus was still looking away, and Clarie was busying herself by talking nonsense to Scorpius's sister.

"Anybody up for sneaking into the kitchen for some treacle tart?" Albus suggested.

* * *

Scorpius was a bit overwhelmed. Though Professor Longbottom had healed his shoulder fairly quickly, it still burned. Also, Albus had _a lot_ of family members.

Almost all of the Weasleys had introduced themselves to him, except Rose's dad and brother. He hadn't met Harry Potter yet either, but he didn't seem to be in the house at the moment. Ginny Potter, however, seemed to be very interested in him. And he already knew Hermione, of course.

"You've never read Gilderoy Lockhart's books?" Molly Weasley, Percy's daughter that Scorpius had met earlier, said in astonishment. She was loosening up a bit, but was still much too uptight for Scorpius's liking.

"No," said Scorpius dryly. "Albus told me he didn't even do any of the things he claimed."

Molly glared at him. "Albus is listening to his father's dumb tales. Uncle Harry may've been the Chosen One, but he wasn't all knowing. Lockhart lost all his memories. That doesn't mean he didn't do everything he wrote about in his books."

Ginny Weasley was watching their exchange in amusement. "That's exactly what happened, though, Mol. How many times do your Uncle Harry and Uncle Ron have to tell you? They were there."

Scorpius was gratified, but tried not to show it. He always tried to show as little emotion as possible.

"Molly's a buzzkill," said her younger sister, Lucy (otherwise known as the fun one). "This is one of the times the real story is even more epic than the rumors."

"Grandma says-"

Ginny cut her off. "Grandma fancied Gilderoy Lockhart from the moment he published his first book. She believes Ron, she just doesn't want to admit that her hero is a fake."

Molly frowned deeply and turned to walk away. "The three of you are impossible to convince of facts. It's no wonder none of you are in Ravenclaw."

"I'm ten!" Lucy shouted after her. "How am I supposed to be in Ravenclaw when I don't even go to Hogwarts until next year?"

Molly did not turn around. Ginny grinned at Lucy and Scorpius.

"I don't want to be in Ravenclaw," Lucy muttered disdainfully. "Do you think Father will kill me if I'm in Hufflepuff, Aunt Ginny?"

"I like Hufflepuff," Scorpius found himself saying before Ginny could reply. "They're always nice to me."

Ginny smiled softly when she turned to her niece and said, "Your father will be proud of you no matter what house you end up in."

Scorpius turned his face away. Lucy Weasley's father may be proud of her no matter what house she was in, but Scorpius's father made it abundantly clear that he wouldn't be proud of a son from Gryffindor. Draco Malfoy would never be proud of a son like Scorpius.

* * *

"Come on, you have to go out for quidditch with us." Al had been trying to convince Scorpius for several minutes now to go out for the Gryffindor quidditch team with him in their second year, but Scorpius was reluctant.

"Why should I? The team was great last year!"

"And half of them were seventh years." James, who had been on the team since his second year, would of course know this. "We lost our seeker, two of our chasers and one beater. I play chaser, and we still have Anderson as the keeper and Travers as the other beater. Now Al here, he'll be going out for seeker, won't you bud?"

"Would you shut up," Albus hissed through her teeth.

James smirked at Scorpius. "Al doesn't want Mum knowing he's going for Dad's old position instead of hers like I did."

"Aunt Ginny was a great seeker," Rose said defensively. "She played every time your dad got detention."

"Angelina was so angry when we got banned," said George Weasley as he walked in the living room and sat down on the other side of of Rose. His wife came in and sat on the arm of the couch beside him. "You remember that?"

"Of course." She glared at him. "I trusted Harry to hold you back, but that was mighty stupid of me. If three seventh year girls couldn't hold back Fred, scrawny little Harry Potter had no chance of holding you. It was funny watching him try though."

"What happened?" James demanded. He, Albus and Rose seemed to be on the edge of their seats. Scorpius found the story pretty interesting himself.

"They attacked Draco Malfoy and got themselves banned from playing quidditch as long as Dolores Umbridge was there," Angelina said, shaking her head.

Scorpius blinked. No one seemed to realize what was said until Rose gasped. "Scorpius…"

"What did my dad say to make you and Mr. Potter so angry?" Scorpius asked George Weasley, cutting Rose off.

George looked hesitant. "Just stupid stuff...nothing we should've fought over."

Scorpius snorted. If only they knew where Draco Malfoy was at the moment. "Insulted your family then, did he? Or your friends?"

"Something like that," he said awkwardly. Everyone looked very uncomfortable.

"What about when Dad was captain?" James asked, changing the subject. "Anything interesting happen in those games?"

George and his wife shared an awkward glance. Scorpius noticed them both looking his way.

"Not….much," George said.

"We wouldn't know anyway," Angelina added quickly. "That was Harry's sixth year, after we'd already left Hogwarts."

Scorpius sighed. "This has something to do with my dad, too, doesn't it?"

No one would meet his eyes.

"Well go on," Scorpius said. "Might as well tell me what happened. My dad probably deserved it."

"Scorpius," Rose said. He continued to ignore her.

"Really, I want to know," he said.

George sighed. "Harry got in major trouble for using a spell on your father that he wasn't sure what would happen. It turned out to be a really dangerous spell that caused your dad to get hurt and have massive blood loss. Harry was prohibited from playing quidditch for the rest of the season and Ginny had to take his place as seeker. He had detention for what was supposed to be the rest of the school year, but only lasted until Snape…"

He hesitated. Albus finished the story for him. "Until Snape killed Dumbledore, right?"

George nodded, his lips tight. "Yes, well, he was supposed to do that."

"Odd, isn't it," Al said, "that I'm named after two guys, one of which killed the other?"

"Al," Rose groaned.

Scorpius shrugged. "We do have some odd names, huh Albus Severus Potter?"

Albus grinned. "Sure do, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy."

"Merlin's bloody beard that's a mouthful," said James, laughing.

"Boys," Rose said with a sigh, and she stood up, looking at her aunt and uncle. "Uncle George, I believe you said you'd show me some new gadgets for the joke shop before Dad got home?"

George smiled and helped his wife up. "Alright, alright, I suppose it'll be okay. Just don't tell your mother."

When they left, Scorpius turned back to the brothers and noticed they were frowning at each other.

"What?" Scorpius asked, bewildered.

Al said, "Why does it sound like our dad did a whole lot of awful crap to your dad, yet your dad's the one the world ses as the bad guy?"

Scorpius blinked in surprise. He glanced at James, but he looked just as confused and hurt as Al did.

"Guys, my dad is the bad guy," Scorpius said. "The things your dad did...well, he did them because he and my father had a personal grudge against each other. But my dad was a Death Eater. His mistakes could've hurt a lot of people."

The boys were still frowning at each other. Scorpius sighed. "Your dad's a hero. Don't question that because he and my father got in a few rows."

They still didn't look convinced.

Scorpius stood up. "I'm going to go find my sister. Either of you seen where she went?"

"Clarie had her," Al said, sounding distracted.

Scorpius nodded and set off in search of the two girls, but stopped just behind the wall to listen when he heard one of the Potter brothers mention his name.

"...yeah, he's a good bloke," James was saying, "but he might just be trying to make us feel better because he's your friend and it's your birthday."

"I can't imagine Dad doing anything as awful as Uncle George said, though," Al said, sounding disheartened. "Should we ask him about it?"

"Definitely not," James said very quickly. "We don't want to get Uncle George in trouble, and besides, Dad might not want Scorpius coming over so much if he finds out we've been hearing stories about his past with Draco Malfoy that he didn't want us hearing."

Scorpius backed away from the wall. He hadn't thought of that. He'd been worried Harry Potter wouldn't like him already, but he hadn't thought he might not want his sons to be around Scorpius if they learned of some of the worse rows their fathers had had together.

Scorpius became so worried by this fact, he didn't notice the person behind him until he backed into them.

He let out a yelp. "What the-"

He stumbled, and suddenly a large pair of hands were on his shoulders, holding him still and making sure he didn't fall. "Whoa there," said a laughing voice, and Scorpius froze.

Slowly, he looked up, and was staring into the bemused face of Harry Potter.

"Merlin!" Scorpius jumped back, eyes wide. "I...I'm so sorry Mr. Potter….I mean-"

"What's going on here?"

Ginny Weasley had come to check out the noise, much to Scorpius's relief. If Harry Potter was mad at him, maybe his wife, who seemed to like Scorpius well enough, could calm him down.

"I...I didn't mean…"

"Harry." Ginny turned to her husband with a glare. "What are you doing scaring the wits out of this poor boy?"

Harry Potter looked bewildered. "I didn't mean to frighten him. Honestly Ginny, he just ran into me and-"

"Save it," Ginny cut him off, turning back to Scorpius. "Come along dear, I'll get you something to drink. Would you fancy some pumpkin juice?"

Anything would be better than continuing to stand there awkwardly with Harry Potter staring down at him like he was a raging lunatic. "Yes ma'am, thank you," he said, swallowing thickly.

He could feel Harry Potter's eyes on him the whole walk back to the kitchen.

* * *

Neville was seated in an arm chair in one of the upstairs rooms of Harry's house. Ron and Hermione sat at the foot of the bed, and Harry paced the length of the floor. Neville could practically feel Hermione's eyes boring into Harry's skull as he walked.

"I cannot believe you scared that little boy like that, Harry," she said, crossing her arms.

Harry turned toward her indignantly. "It's not like I meant to scare him, Hermione. He ran into me! What was I supposed to do, let him fall?"

Hermione huffed. "Well you didn't do anything to reassure him you weren't angry with him!"

"Why the bloody blazes would I be angry with him? I don't even know him!"

Neville sighed. "He's a special case, Harry. He's scared that everyone who had a grudge against his father will hate him. He doesn't think you approve of his being friends with your children."

"Why would he think that?" Ron demanded. "He's already got my wife and sister wrapped around his little finger, not to mention my daughter."

"And mine," Neville reminded him. "Clarie and Hannah adore him. They were absolutely crushed when they found out Draco was demanding Scorpius and Aria return home for the summer."

"Well I think-" Harry started, but was interrupted by Teddy pushing the door open.

"Sorry Harry," Teddy said, looking truly apologetic, "Dudley's sent an owl, wanting to know where to drop off Al's present, or if he's allowed to come inside."

"Dudley sent an owl?" Harry looked bewildered. "Where the bloody blazes did Dudley get an owl from?"

Teddy shrugged. Neville knew Harry and his cousin had never really been close, but they were on what the kids referred to as "Christmas Card terms" and Dudley sent the kids presents for every birthday and Christmas. Even Teddy.

"So what are you guys in here talking about?" Teddy asked, walking in the room and shutting the door behind him. He obviously thought nothing Dudley Dursley could have to say would be as interesting as whatever the four of them were talking about in here.

Neville, Harry and Ron all started to say that it was nothing, but Hermione said, "Your godfather about scared poor Scorpius Malfoy to death in the hallway a few minutes ago."

Teddy frowned. "Harry," he said reprovingly, "that's not nice."

Harry threw his hands up in the air. "You've got to be kidding me. I didn't do it on purpose. How many times must I say this?"

"Oh come on," said Teddy "he's a good kid."

Ron huffed. "That's what everyone keeps saying. Do tell, what's so great about him?"

It was then that Teddy decided to tell them what happened at Malfoy's Manor that morning. He looked sheepish, like he wasn't supposed to say anything. Neville had a feeling Victorie Weasley wouldn't take too well to her boyfriend telling them what happened.

"WHAT?" Hermione screeched, when Teddy was finished telling them what happened.

"I knew I made coffee this morning," Harry mumbled.

"Oh bollocks!" Hermione exclaimed, stamping her feet. "I'll be right back. I'm going to the Malfoys' house to erase Draco Malfoy's stupid memory."

Teddy moved away from the door to let her pass, and started giggling at her choice of words.

"Grow up!" Hermione shouted back at him.

"Bloody hell, she hasn't cursed in ages," Ron muttered.

Teddy shrugged. "I thought it was brilliant."

"Say that a little louder, won't you Ted?" Harry said, thumping his godson upside the head. "I don't think she heard you."

Teddy just grinned. "Seriously though," he said, "what are we going to do about Scorpius and his sister?"

"We?" Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

Teddy gave him a look. "Well obviously Vic's made this her business, and anything that's her business is automatically made my business, right?"

Ron snorted with suppressed laughter. Neville held back a grin of his own.

"Besides," Teddy mumbled, "I kind of like the kid."

"What was that?" Neville said, leaning forward.

Teddy scowled at him.

"We should just make him feel as welcomed as possible," Neville said, returning to the conversation at hand. "I've been around Scorpius all year. He's been through more than any kid should have to go through, and he's way advanced in magic for his age. I'd have kept him at my house for the summer like we'd planned to do if he hadn't insisted he go back to stay with his father."

"Well," said Ron, "might as well start today then. Better late than never, especially now that Harry's scared the living daylights out of him."

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

* * *

Clarie was still mad at Scorpius for choosing to go home instead of staying with her for the summer, but she decided it might be a little too much to keep ignoring him during Albus's birthday party. Still holding Aria on her hip, Clarie walked into the kitchen and found Scorpius sitting on a stool with Ginny Potter pressing a goblet of pumpkin juice into his hands.

"What's going on?" Clarie asked.

"Uncle Harry scared the pee out of him," said Lucy Weasley, whom Clarie had not noticed was sitting on the counter.

Clarie smirked and glanced back at Scorpius.

Scorpius winced. "He did not. He just….startled me a bit."

Clarie snorted. "What do you think Ari?" She asked his baby sister. "Is Bubba just a bit startled?"

"Uh uh," Aria said giggling.

"Traitor," Scorpius muttered.

Clarie grinned. "You know," she said, "I think I saw Rose upstairs in Lily's room."

Scorpius blinked. "And?"

Honestly, Clarie thought, sometimes boys were so dense. She glanced at her Ginny and saw her quickly masked grin. At least she understood what Clarie had been hinting at. "Annnnd, I want you to go upstairs and talk to her, duh!"

"Why?" Scorpius looked bewildered.

Clarie sighed and passed Aria off to him. "She's been trying to get her hands on Ari all evening. Take her up there and let Rose play with her for a while."

"Okay…" He slid off the stool with his sister in his arms and headed towards the stairs.

Before Clarie could even turn around, Ginny had her grabbed her up under the arms and lifted her onto the stool Scorpius had just vacated. "Spill," she demanded, placing her hands on her slender hips.

"What?" Clarie asked, trying to hide a smile and failing miserably.

Ginny smacked her lightly on the arm. "Rose totally has a thing for Scorpius! Am I right?"

"Maybe," Clarie giggled. Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Okay, I'm pretty sure she does. I mean, we're only twelve but she just lights up whenever he's around."

"But so do you," Ginny said.

Clarie shook her head immediately. "No, no, trust me it's not like that at all. Scorpius is….well, he's like a brother to me. Trust me, there's nothing there."

"Yeah, because Clarie likes someone else."

Clarie nearly jumped off her stool. She'd completely forgotten Lucy was still sitting on the counter, and had heard their entire conversation.

"Oh really?" Ginny looked very interested now. "Who might that be?"

"No one," Clarie said quickly, and shot a venomous glare back at Lucy Weasley. Though the kid was the fun one between her and her sister, she was still Percy Weasley's daughter, and therefore had this annoying quality about her.

"No one?" Ginny was positively glowing with curiosity now. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Clarie said between her teeth. "There's no one."

"Sure," said Lucy, with a wicked grin. "And 'no one' happens to be having his birthday today, right?"

The shriek that left Clarie's lips did not sound human.

"I knew it!" Ginny exclaimed, jumping up and clapping her hands together. "Oh this is wonderful! Welcome to the family!"

"Ginny!" Clarie whined, when Ginny pulled her into a tight hug. "Ginny you're crushing me."

"Sorry love." Ginny released her. "I'm just so excited!"

"Well don't get too excited," Clarie mumbled. "I mean we're twelve. What does liking someone even mean at twelve?"

"It means you've found your soulmate." It was Harry, walking in with Ron, Teddy and Clarie's father behind him. "What were we talking about?"

"What do you mean by that?" Clarie asked, avoiding his last question. "That it means you've found your soulmate, I mean."

Harry grinned and shot a look at his wife. "Well…"

"Harry Potter, don't you start with that again," Ginny said, arms crossed. But she had a smile on her face, so Clarie could only assume she wasn't actually cross with Harry for whatever he was talking about.

Harry laughed. It was Ron, however, who spoke up. "He only meant that Ginny had a terrible crush on Harry since she was nine years old."

Lucy, who'd moved to stand close enough to Clarie to where she could reach out and kick her if she wanted, grinned and said, "And when did you know you loved Aunt Hermione, Uncle Ron?"

"That's difficult to say," Ron said considerably. "I didn't tell her until the war. We didn't really act like we even liked each other at all until our fourth year."

Neville snorted. "And Merlin were you jealous when your heard she was going to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum."

"I do recall you asking her to that ball," Ron retorted.

"What?" Clarie and Lucy said at the same time, equally shocked.

Clarie looked at her father. "You asked out Hermione?"

Neville seemed to be wilting under everyone's gaze, he was so embarrassed. "As a friend….Look it was a long time ago. I got a date anyway."

"Mom?" Clarie asked. To her surprise, everyone laughed.

"No," said Neville, "No honey, I didn't even really know Hannah all that well until our seventh year."

"Then who did you go with?" Clarie asked.

"Me," said Ginny from behind Clarie.

Clarie wasn't sure her day could get any weirder. "So wait. Dad, you asked out Ron's wife, and went to the ball with Harry's wife, and somehow you're still friends with all of them?"

"Neville's hard not be be friends with," Harry said, laughing.

"Well so am I!" Albus pushed through the people crowding the front door and grinned at everyone in the room. "Well, is it time for cake and presents or what?"

* * *

 **Yeah, so, I'll admit the second half of this chapter isn't the best, but I wasn't quite sure how to end it. The next chapter will focus on their second year. I hope everyone's still reading this. Sorry it's taken so long to get an update for you guys. I'll try to be faster next time.**

 ***I don't own anything you recognize**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	7. Second Year

**So I read Harry Potter & The Cursed Child and first, can I just say, WOW! Obviously I loved it; who wouldn't? Well, there was this one Potter fan at my school, but he said it sucks so I shall no longer talk to him. Anyway, I just wanted to point out that I notice a couple of similarities between this story and The Cursed Child. Just a couple things, and for those of you who haven't read it, I won't point that out. And I have another fanfiction I was not planning on posting, that was scarily like it. It was a major deja vu moment, I'll tell you guys now. Anyways, just wanted to say that I stole nothing, this story was entirely my idea (minus the characters, of course), and though I didn't steal anything, I do think it's cool some of my ideas were similar to JK's, Jack Thorne's and John Tiffany's. **

**Anyways, on with the chapter Potterheads. And a Happy-Late-Birthday to our dear Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, and JK Rowling. I started writing this before then, and I wish I could've posted on their birthday.**

 **I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

"Dad, Aria and I are leaving for Hogwarts!" Scorpius shouted down the hall to his father as he packed up his last few belongings in his room. "There's water on your bedside table and Mr. Weasley will be by to check on you around sunset!"

Draco yelled a very rude thing that Ron Weasley could do to himself. Scorpius sighed.

Grabbing his luggage, Scorpius trudged down the stairs. "You guys are the best," he told Teddy Lupin and Victorie Weasley, who had arrived half an hour earlier, claiming they were there to help transport Scorpius and Aria to the Longbottoms' house, where Scorpius would be staying for the night. Scorpius and Clarie would walk down to the carriages from Hogsmeade, and Professor Longbottom would wait until after curfew to bring Aria back to her and Scorpius's shared dorm room.

"Do you wish you were going to Platform 9 ¾?" Teddy asked, taking one of the suitcases from Scorpius. Victorie was busy making sure Aria had everything she needed for the year at Hogwarts, since Victorie herself would no longer be attending and couldn't see to her well being.

Scorpius shrugged. "Well, the ideal situation would be for my mum to still be alive and my dad not to be insane, and then they could wish me well at my second year. But since that's not the case, it seems better this way. Besides, I'm glad I don't have to leave my sister."

Teddy clapped him on the shoulder, a sympathetic gesture. Since Albus's birthday over the summer, Teddy had seemed to grow a sort of liking to Scorpius and his sister, much as his girlfriend Victorie had, and the pair had spent more and more time checking up on them through their weeks off school. Scorpius had to say, he would miss them this year.

"So how are we getting there?" Scorpius asked. "I have to say, I don't really fancy taking another portkey with a baby."

"I not a baby," Aria protested.

Scorpius grinned and tickled her, while Victorie was still trying to help her into her robes. "You're _my_ little baby."

She wriggled away from him, scrunching her shoulders up so he couldn't tickle her neck. "Bubba stop!" She whined.

Scorpius laughed and turned to his companions. "You lot ready?"

"Ready." Victorie grinned.

This time, they were going to try Apparating. Should be interesting. When they all had their hands in the middle, including Aria's, Scorpius felt suddenly dizzy. It was as if his stomach had shot up to his throat. He was there, and then he wasn't. He could still feel his hand connected to the others, and that was the only thing that seemed to be keeping him anchored to the earth.

It was over soon enough. They appeared on the hill just on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. Scorpius still felt sick, but he was okay. Aria, on the other hand….

"Oh dear," said Victorie, leaning forward to intercept the now hurling Aria.

"Oh bloody hell," Teddy muttered, and turned his face away. Scorpius figured Teddy hadn't been around too many puking kids.

Scorpius pulled a new set of robes and a towel out of his bag. "No more apparating for her," he decided.

Victorie nodded vigorously.

* * *

They arrived at the Longbottom's door before noon. Scorpius loved this place. Besides Hogwarts, this was his favorite place in the world.

"Carry!" Aria exclaimed, opening and closing her hands in excitement.

"You want me to carry you?" Scorpius guessed, leaning forward to take her from Victorie, but Aria leaned away from him.

"No!" She cried, and pointed at the door. "Carry! Carry!"

"I think she means Clarie," Teddy supplied.

"Oh!" Scorpius hadn't even thought of that. "Yeah Ari, let's go see Clarie."

"Yay!" Aria cheered. They all laughed.

Teddy set Scorpius's suitcase and Aria's diaper bag (that he'd insisted on carrying) down on the front step, and knocked on the door.

It was opened seconds later by Hannah Longbottom, who was grinning hugely.

"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy! Oh, how I've missed you!"

Scorpius was suddenly enveloped in Hannah's tight embrace.

"Hi Hannah," Scorpius laughed. It had taken him so long to get used to calling adults by their first names. But the truth was, he'd missed her. For the past year Hannah had been a constant figure in Scorpius and Aria's lives, and then they hadn't seen her all summer.

"Ari!" Hannah squealed when she released Scorpius.

Aria screeched in delight and launched herself at Hannah. "'Anna! 'Anna!"

Scorpius smiled. Aria still couldn't say 'Hannah' yet, but it never seemed to bother the woman. Hannah beamed at her.

"Where Carry?" Aria demanded. She had one hand on Hannah's cheek and the other clutching her robes.

Hannah smiled. "She and Neville went into town to buy some last minute food things for dinner. Teddy, Victorie, are you staying for dinner?"

"Oh, no," Victorie told her, sounding a bit surprised. "Thanks so much Hannah, but we're having dinner at Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop."

Hannah smiled at her knowingly. "Ah, I see. Have a good time you two."

"Oh, yeah. The two of you have a great time in the tea shop." Scorpius raised an eyebrow suggestively at Teddy. "But not too good a time."

Teddy rolled his eyes. Somehow, he and Scorpius had become almost as close as siblings over the past few weeks.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, and pushed Scorpius towards the house while Victorie blushed madly. "Just get in the house, runt."

"Bye bye blueberry," Aria waved at Teddy. Aria was somewhat obsessed with Teddy's blue hair, and therefore didn't bother with his name. Blueberry was the only thing she'd ever called him.

He cracked a small smile. "Bye bye Ari."

"Bye Ari," Victorie added.

"Bye bye Vicky."

Scorpius grabbed his and Aria's bags from where Teddy had sat them, and they watched as Teddy and Victorie grabbed hands and apparated out of sight.

"Don't know why they bother," Hannah mumbled, shaking her head. "They're just going a few streets over."

Scorpius chuckled. "Less walking, and probably just to say they can."

Hannah grinned down at him. "Probably. Well come on then. We'll get the two of you unpacked, and by then Neville and Clary should be home."

"Carry!" Aria exclaimed again.

* * *

Scorpius was happy to unpack most of his things in the Longbottoms' house. It felt permanent. He loved that he and Aria had a bedroom here to spend the night whenever they wanted. It had been the guest bedroom before the start of the summer, but Hannah decided that they'd never had many guests before and it might as well be their room. Of course, Scorpius and Aria would still spend most of their time in their bedroom at the castle, but it felt nice knowing they had another place to stay if they ever needed or wanted it.

"Hannah!" A very familiar voice called from down the hall. Scorpius grinned at Hannah, who was helping him unpack.

"Carry!" Aria screeched, bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Hannah?" Clarie said again. "Where are you?"

"I never know when she's going to call me Mom," Hannah murmured. "In Scorpius and Aria's room, darling!"

The sound of footsteps could be heard coming quickly down the hall. When Clarie's blonde head appeared in the doorway, she shrieked almost as loud as Aria had, and practically jumped Scorpius.

"Scorp!" She exclaimed. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too." He laughed, surprised, and wrapped his arms around Clarie for a brief second, before releasing her.

"Carry!" Aria exclaimed, reaching up.

"Ari!" Clarie bent to pick her up, and buried her face in Aria's hair.

Hannah looked like she was about to cry. "All my babies together again!" She said, fanning her face.

Scorpius flushed red. It was always embarrassing when Hannah referred to him as her baby.

"Do I hear Malfoy voices?"

Scorpius shared a grin with his sister, and Claire winked at him. Neville appeared in the doorway, holding three or four bags of groceries.

Aria screeched Neville's name, and tried to wriggle out of Clarie's arms.

"Hang on." Neville laughed, setting down all the bags, and then scooping Aria up into his arms. He kissed her all over the face, while Aria giggled and tried to get out of the way.

Claire came to stand beside Scorpius as they both watched the scene. Hannah had joined in on the game, tickling Aria's stomach while Neville continued to kiss her all over.

"Cute isn't it?" Clarie asked. Scorpius nodded, glad his baby sister was experiencing this sort of affection from someone besides himself. Scorpius couldn't be there with her _all_ the time.

"It would've been nice to have been here as a baby, I think," Claire continued, sounding wistful. Scorpius turned to look at her. She shrugged. "I've only been living with them for a couple of years, Scorp. I didn't get that…"

They both gazed at the sweet scene in front of them, and Scorpius felt a sudden, intense longing to see his mother again. He so wished Aria could have known her longer. He knew she remembered her, at least enough to miss her, but she would never know how much love their mother had had for them both, the loving look in her eyes as she'd gaze at her two children or her husband. Aria wouldn't remember the way she smelled, or the sound of her singing…

"What's for dinner?" Claire asked, clearing her throat and interrupting the happy scene, along with both her's and Scorpius's morbid thoughts.

* * *

"We're going to meet Rose and Al at the train station, right?" Clarie asked later that night, when she and Scorpius were getting ready for bed. Scorpius was brushing his teeth, and Clarie was on her toes behind him, trying to see in the mirror to brush her hair.

"Mhm." Scorpius spit into the sink. "Why you asking?"

"Just wondering." Clarie had a faraway look on her face. It was a look she'd had all night, ever since Neville had appeared in the doorway of Scorpius and Aria's bedroom. Neither Neville nor Hannah had noticed anything up, but Scorpius had, and even Aria had asked her what was wrong once during dinner. Conversation had ceased, and both of Clarie's parents stared at her, waiting for her answer.

"I'm fine," Clarie had said, smiling at Aria and then at her parents. She'd pointedly ignored Scorpius's gaze, for he'd known exactly why she'd been acting strange all night.

But she wasn't fine.

"Clarie…" Scorpius hesitated.

"Hmm?"

"What were your birth parents like?"

Clarie's hands froze, the brush still in her hair. Then, slowly, she started brushing it again. He could see her reflection in the mirror, and she looked discomposed, for once.

"Clarie?"

"Give me a second," she mumbled. "I'm trying to figure out what to tell you here."

"You know you don't have to tell me anything…"

"I know." Finally, she put her brush down, and Scorpius turned to look at her, not just her reflection. "But I want to. I want you to know everything, I just….don't really know how to say it."

"Back before Aria was born," Scorpius said, and Clarie blinked at his suddenness, "it was just me and my parents in that big old house. We had no one but each other. And it was nice. At least, until we left the house. No one wanted to talk to us, and they would whisper along the streets, dumb rumors and utter nonsense. The worst times were when I could hear what they were saying. Most of them were sneering things at my father, but they thought my mum was just as awful for marrying him, and that I couldn't be any better if I was raised by them."

Clarie stared at him. "Why are you telling me this?"

Scorpius shrugged. "I thought it might help if I shared something from my past first."

"Scorpius…" Clarie let out a shaky laugh. "Scorp, you've shared a lot more with me than you ever needed to. You shouldn't have to share anything else. I know I'm the only kid in our year at Hogwarts that knows about what happened to your mum and dad and that you're taking care of Aria…"

Scorpius waited, unsure of what else to say.

Clarie sighed. "I never met my father," she started. Scorpius held his breath, wondering how bad this could be. "He was a good man, or so I've heard. He was in Hufflepuff, and not many people remember him. They just tell me he was a good person, and they wished I could've known him. My mother, on the other hand…."

She paused, and looked up at him. "Come with me. I don't want my parents to overhear me talking about this. It'll upset them."

Clarie led him down the hall, and Scorpius followed, trying to keep his footsteps as quiet as possible. Clarie stopped in front of her bedroom, and opened the door slowly. It creaked a little, but not loud enough for anyone down the hall to be able to hear. They sat down on her bed, which was incredibly large, and both of them leaned against her headboard.

"My mother was a horrible person," Clarie whispered. "Horrible. If my father was such a good man, I can't imagine why he ever involved himself in a relationship with someone like her. I suppose she loved me, once, maybe. I don't really know. As far back as I can remember, she didn't give a bloody-"

She stopped herself, closing her eyes tight for a moment before continuing. "She never cared about me. Not that I can remember. I can recall being as little as Aria, and her telling me to stay as far away from her as possible, not to disturb her when she was enjoying her firewhiskey or entertaining a guest."

Her voice held a bitter edge to it now. "I guess you can see now why I hated you so much that first day. It wasn't only because of what Rita Skeeter wrote about Neville and Hannah."

Scorpius winced."Sorry about that. I really didn't mean anything by it."

"I know that," she said, giving him a wry smile.

"Honestly," he said, "I kind of just wondered how good it must taste for my father to become so attached to it."

Clarie nodded, as if she understood. "I never cared to try it. Still don't. I doubt I'll try it when I'm old enough either, because I don't want to end up like my mother."

"So your mother and my father are a lot alike?"

"I don't think so." Clarie shook her head. "No, your father has a reason to do what he's doing, though it may not seem like it sometimes. He's ill, due to what those Death Eaters did to him. My mother did this to herself on purpose. She told me over and over, whenever I'd ask, that she never cared for my father, and she hated him even more for getting her pregnant and stuck with the responsibility of raising me. Sometimes I wonder why she never tried to end her pregnancy with me…

"That's why I think she might have loved me, at least a little. Either that, or she just had a bit of respect for human life. Magic blood spilled is magic wasted, as they say.

"She treated me horribly after that. She was drunk almost all the time, and when she wasn't, she couldn't stand to look at me. She told me I was a waste of space."

Scorpius watched the array of emotions that passed Clarie's face. These were painful memories she was sharing, and Scorpius wasn't sure she'd ever really shared them with anyone else.

"Did she…?" Scorpius didn't know how to ask.

Clarie bit her lip, but nodded. "Hit me? Yeah, a few times. Not much. It's not like she tried to beat me to death, but she'd hit me hard enough to leave a mark on my cheek. Then one day, she was wearing a bunch of rings, I said something that pissed her off, and she smacked me. Merlin, those rings hurt. She gave me a black eye, and split my lip. I think it shocked her afterwards, what she did. That's when she gave up her parental rights. I was nine."

"Where did you go after that?"

Clarie let out a breath, and a small smile formed on her face. "I might have gotten a bit ahead of myself. My mum hadn't given up her parental rights quite yet. After she'd hit me, she turned her face away and told me to go wash up in the creek outside. I stumbled my way out of the house, and, to my mother's misfortune, ran right into Rose and her mother. Hermione was livid. She demanded to know who did that to my face, and I was too scared to answer. I glanced back at my house, and it was like you could see Hermione's eyes flash with fire. She told Rose to stay with me. Rose told her mum she was going to take me to The Three Broomsticks to get some ice for my face. And that's where I met Hannah."

Clarie laughed shakily. Scorpius grabbed her hand and squeezed it, mutely urging her to go on. She'd already come this far into the story, might as well go the whole way.

"Hannah….well, she didn't see us at first. She was handling a bunch of customers. Rose had to practically scream to get her attention, but when she did, the look on Hannah's face was priceless. She demanded everyone leave her establishment, offering them all free butterbeer the next time they came just to get them out. She fussed over me all afternoon, giving me ice and food and drinks; anything I wanted, she gave to me. Neville showed up not long after everyone else left, and he looked positively horrified. I don't know what all the fuss was about, honestly. They'd been through a terrible war, where children were injured and killed. And what did I have? A black eye and a busted lip. But it was like the end of the world for them, seeing a little nine year old girl like that. I'm sure they'd seen worse, but I guess it was different in my case. I don't know why."

"Maybe because it wasn't an injury sustained by a war, but by a parent?" Scorpius suggested.

"Maybe," Clarie admitted. "Hermione came back, and I heard her entire conversation with Neville and Hannah. Rose heard it too, I know, because she was sitting right by me, holding my hand. I didn't even know her, yet she refused to leave my side. Anyway, Hermione told them that she'd confronted my mother, who admitted to hitting me, but said she hadn't meant to do it so hard, and that she'd gladly sign over her parental rights to the Ministry if it meant her punishment would be lessened. My mother was horrible, but she wasn't stupid. She knew doing such things would be what was best for her. That was the Slytherin in her. Harry Potter showed up to haul her off to Azkaban, but she got a very short sentence. She didn't do much to me, and she gave up all her rights. There wasn't all that much they could do."

"So how did you end up with the Longbottoms?" Scorpius asked.

"I'm getting there, you impatient thing." Clarie rolled her eyes. "It seemed to me a very rash decision for them to make, but it didn't even take them an hour after detaining my mother to come and ask me if I'd like to live with them permanently. I didn't know them, and I was scared to death of everything going on, but I knew my mother had abandoned me, and if I didn't go with them, I'd be an orphan. I did not want to be an orphan, that's for sure. So I told them okay. Rose seemed really happy about that, saying the Longbottoms were really close to her family and that we'd get to be the very best of friends. I thought she was just being nice, but she kept her promise. We've been best friends ever since. She was the first person to call me Clarie, and that made me so happy. I hated my first name, just because my mother gave it to me. You know, I'll never regret the decision I made in that split second to come live with two total strangers who'd shown me a moment of kindness."

They stayed silent for a moment, and then Scopious breathed, "Wow."

Clarie smiled at him.

"So what was your last name before it was Longbottom?" Scorpius asked.

"Wenlock," Clarie said. "Clarissa Bridget Wenlock Longbottom."

"Bridget Wenlock…" Scorpius frowned, trying to remember where he knew the name from.

"She was the first person to discover the magical significance of the number seven," Clarie informed him.

Scorpius nodded. "I knew I'd heard that name somewhere before. So you're a Wenlock, then?"

Clarie shrugged. "Seven was never my lucky number, Scorp, so don't go looking too much into it. Nine's my lucky number."

Scorpius grinned.

* * *

"I am really not in the mood to ride all the way to Hogwarts with James," Albus warned his cousin, the second he saw her. He and his family had met up with Rose and her family at King's Cross Station, hoping to go through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾ together.

"Why?" Rose looked amused.

Albus risked a sideways glance at his brother, who smirked back at him. "James is being a prat. Would you mind just getting a compartment together?"

Rose shrugged. "Sure, why not? Scorpius won't be joining us, though. He and Clarie are gonna meet us at the station in Hogsmeade."

Albus sighed. "The Longbottoms are nice to one kid, and we're the ones who have to pay."

"Al!" Rose laughed. They watched as James ran through the barrier with Ginny, Lily with Harry, and Hugo with Ron and Hermione. Apparently they trusted Rose and Albus enough to make it through the barrier on their own.

"Ready?" Rose said, holding onto her cart tightly.

"Ready." They took off for the barrier together, and were happy to see that it didn't stop them. After the tale from the fathers' second year, they were very happy about this.

"There you two are." Harry grinned down at the two of them, and Albus found himself wondering again how his father, the great Harry Potter, could've done so many awful things to Scorpius's dad. But he and James had agreed not to say anything at Albus's birthday party, and so far, Albus had kept his word.

"Let's go find a compartment," Albus muttered to Rose, who frowned at him.

"In a moment, Al. I'm saying goodbye to my mum and dad."

Albus watched as she hugged his Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, and ruffled Hugo's orangey-red hair. They stood there talking for what seemed like forever.

"I want to go to Hogwarts," Lily muttered miserably from beside Albus. He glanced down at her. Lily was hardly ever upset, except when September 1st rolled around. It used to be that she and Albus would complain together about not being able to go to Hogwarts with James, and before that all three had complained when they'd gone to see Teddy off. But now it was just Lily left. Albus hoped Ron and Hermione brought Hugo over to see her enough so she wasn't too lonely.

"I know Lils." Albus put an arm around his little sister's shoulders. "It's just one more year, alright? I know you can make it one more year."

"I'm gonna miss you," she mumbled. Albus smiled a little.

"I'll miss you too, runt. Now you remember what I told you over the summer. Mum and Dad are going to be hounding you about Hogwarts a lot this year, trying to prepare you. They'll try not to pressure you to be in Gryffindor, but sometimes it might come across that way. Just remember that it doesn't matter where you're sorted next year. You tell them that with your head held high. I don't want you being all nervous like I was when I got sorted."

Lily giggled and rolled her eyes. "That's a year away, Al. Tell me this rubbish during the summer."

Albus shrugged. "Don't say I didn't warn you." He gave her one last hug goodbye as the train whistle sounded, and went to quickly say goodbye to his parents.

"Bye Mum, Bye Dad, I'll write you!" He promised, giving them each a quick hug, before jumping on the train. It started moving before he was even in a compartment.

* * *

"The two of you owe us big time," Al said, as soon as he and Rose got off the train, dragging their trunks behind them.

Scorpius grinned and went to help Rose with her massive-as-always trunk, which was probably filled with books. Clarie grabbed Albus's ferret and walked beside him as they trudged to the carriages.

"Where's your stuff?" Rose asked him, when Scorpius took her trunk from her.

"Professor Longbottom and Hannah are taking it up to the castle. They might already have done so, since the feast will start soon. Clarie didn't have much, just the stuff she keeps in your dorm for when she spends the night there."

Rose nodded, understanding, and they walked the rest of the way to the carriages mainly in silence. Scorpius flinched when he saw the thestrals again, and Rose reached for his hand. Scorpius tried to draw his away, but Rose held strong.

"Look," she whispered, "I don't know who you saw die, and it doesn't matter to me if I know or not. You're my friend, Scorpius, and you will not go through this alone."

Scorpius turned his face away. He noticed Clarie was glancing in their direction, and when her eyes met Scorpius's, he could see that she knew immediately what was up. He'd seen his mother die; he could see the thestrals.

"I won't even tell Al and Clarie," Rose promised. Scorpius finally looked back at her, and, biting his lip, gave her hand a grateful squeeze.

"Thanks," he mumbled. "I appreciate that." And he did, even if Clarie already knew. He appreciated the fact that Rose would keep her word, and wouldn't tell a soul that he'd seen someone die. With her quick mind, and the fact that she'd been there the day Scorpius had seen the awful portrait of his mother outside his bedroom, Scorpius supposed Rose had already figured out who it was he'd seen die. Yet she never said anything about that either.

"Hullo Rose."

They turned. Two boys with blond hair, that looked exactly alike, were standing in front of them, beaming up at Rose. They must've been first years.

"Hullo Lorcan. Hullo Lysander."

Scorpius would never remember which twin was which if his life depended on it.

"Boys, this is Scorpius. Scorpius, these are my Aunt Luna's sons, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander."

"Cool names," Scorpius noted.

"You too," one of them said, smirking. The other chuckled.

Scorpius frowned a little. Twins sort of freaked him out. Except Fred, the portrait that guarded his room in the castle. Fred was a funny guy, and he'd been George Weasley's twin brother before he died in the war. Scorpius would have to remember to tell Fred that he'd met his brother over the summer.

"We hope to be sorted together," one of the boys said, "but Mum was in Ravenclaw and Dad was in Hufflepuff. They might separate us."

Rose just smiled at them. "Don't worry guys, I'm sure everything will turn out just fine. And if you're sorted into different houses, I have a feeling that'll only mean double the mischief around the castle. You two might give James Sirius a run for his galleons."

They chatted with the twins for a few more minutes, until first years were called to the boats, and all the other kids were called to the carriages. Scorpius and Rose sat across from Al and Clarie. Clarie kept sending Scorpius worried glances when the others weren't looking.

" _Are you okay?"_ Her eyes seemed to ask.

Scorpius gave her a hard look back. " _I'm fine."_

And he was, if only for the fact that Rose Weasley was still clutching his hand as they rode to the castle.

* * *

 **That's all today folks! Hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter should be along soon.**

 **And to all of my Auslly fans out there, I have a little shout-out to one of my favorite fanfiction trilogies of all time. It was recently completed, which makes me so sad, but it was really beautiful.**

 **Please do me a favor, if you haven't already, and read When The Good Girl's Stuck With The Bad Boy; The Adventure of A Lifetime - The Good Girl, Bad Boy sequel; and Don't Let Me Go - A Good Girl Bad Boy Story all by Austin and Ally Go 1 Direction. They're amazing stories. I miss them so much, but I encourage you to read them. All of them are completed.**

 ***I don't own anything you recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	8. An Adventure

**Whoop! Two stories updated in a day! I feel accomplished lol.**

 **I don't own Harry Potter. Never have, never will, unfortunately.**

* * *

As it turns out, the twins really were sorted in different houses. As Lysander went to the Ravenclaw table, he glanced at the Hufflepuff table where his brother was sitting solemnly. No doubt they'd be owling each other constantly throughout the night. Too bad technology didn't work around Hogwarts, or Rose could've told them able that muggle communication device she wanted so badly—a cellophane-phone or something—Scorpius thought it was called.

The feast was pretty uneventful. Scorpius was glad to eat something besides sandwiches and pizza, which was all he and Aria had had over the summer, but it wasn't too extravagant considering he'd had a nice dinner at the Longbottoms' just the night before.

"I don't know how you're not hungry," Albus told Scorpius through a mouthful of noodles of some sort. "I'm starved."

"That's because all you've had all day to eat was a couple of chocolate frogs on the train," Rose reminded him, rolling her eyes.

"I wanted to be hungry enough to eat a lot at the feast!" Albus defended himself.

They all laughed.

"He's not hungry because Hannah practically drowned him in breakfast this morning," Clarie said, smirking at him across the table.

"That's true." Scorpius laughed. "Bacon and eggs and sausage…"

He gazed at his plate, which was piled with an assortment of generally the same thing.

Clarie rolled her eyes. "My mum needs to stop spoiling you. I just had oatmeal and butterbeer for breakfast."

"Butterbeer," Albus groaned. "Clare, don't start that. I want butterbeer…"

"I'll smuggle you some in tonight." Clarie laughed. Then she appeared to notice the looks Rose and Scorpius were giving her, because she said, "Fine! I'll smuggle us _all_ in some tonight."

It was a party for four in the Gryffindor common room that night. It turns out that Clarie was awful at 'smuggling', but her mother took pity on her and her friends enough to give them a little back to school treat on the go, with the promise that Clarie (and the rest of them) wouldn't stay up too late, and Clarie would be sleeping in Rose's dorm that night.

"Clarissa darling, this is divine!" Rose said in a high, snotty voice, which cracked halfway through because she was laughing so hard.

"Why thank you darling!" Clarie imitated her. "I do try my best!"

Albus snorted. "You two are ridiculous."

Albus about had a come apart when Scorpius joined in on their antics. "Ladies, please, if you would I'd like another notch. Just a bit, please! Don't need to get this lad here all tipsy."

The girls laughed so hard they claimed they almost wet themselves. This, unfortunately, made Scorpius remember that he needed to put Aria to bed.

He chuckled a little, still recovering from their mad fits of hysterical laughter, and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Rose demanded.

"Bed," he told her, wishing he didn't have to. He wished he didn't have to be a responsible parent. He wished he didn't have to be a parent at all. Scorpius loved his sister, he really did, but sometimes he wished he could just be a kid, and stay up all night with his friends. Maybe, in that alternate universe, he and his friends would show up for their first lesson, dog tired, and get chewed out by their Transfiguration teacher for not paying attention. Maybe they'd laugh together, when the teacher wasn't looking, because only they know why they're all falling asleep all over the place. Maybe….

But that was not the world Scorpius lived in. His world revolved around his little sister. Aria's needs were more important than any of Scorpius's wants.

"Come on mate, have another butterbeer," Albus coaxed.

"I really can't," Scorpius told him, regretfully. "Sorry Al."

"Maybe some other time, then," Clarie spoke up. "Good night Scorpius."

"Good night Clarie." He shot her a grateful look before his gaze moved to his other friends. "Good night Rose, Albus."

When he made it across the hall to Fred Weasley's portrait, the red-headed boy smirked. "Back again, are we Malfoy?"

"It would seem so." Scorpius sighed. "Can I go inside Fred? Do you know who's watching my sister?"

"Can't be sure anyone is." Fred shrugged.

"What?" Scorpius's eyes bulged. "Open the portrait hole right away Fred! I need to see my sister!"

Fred grinned down at him. "Password?"

"It's Neville's plant-thingy," Scorpius said, scrunching up his eyes in concentration. What was the password again?

Fred's grin widened. "Not good enough, Mr. Scorpion."

Scorpius felt all his remaining patience draining. "Let me in!" He shouted at Fred, banging on the wall next to him. Because as angry as Scorpius was, he couldn't bring himself to actually hit Fred's portrait.

Suddenly, the portrait swung open. Professor Longbottom was standing there, eyes wide, holding Aria in his arms. "Scorpius? What's going on?"

"Ari," Scorpius breathed, relieved. He pulled his baby sister out of the professor's arms and hugged her tightly. "Dang it Fred," he mumbled, "don't do that to me."

'What?" Fred, whose portrait was now swinging in front of the open doorway, grinned down at him mischievously. "Was little Malfoy baby scared?"

"Fred," neville said in a warning tone.

Fred turned his head towards Neville's. "Hullo there Longbottom."

Neville let out a sigh. "Fred, you know to let Scorpius in when his sister's inside."

Fred shrugged. "He couldn't remember the password."

Neville frowned. "Does this happen a lot?" He asked Scorpius.

Scorpius nodded, ashamed. "I'm no good with passwords, sir."

He may've been imagining it, but he could've sworn Neville almost smiled. "How about we try a different approach this year, then. A key, perhaps?"

"A key?" Scorpius and Fred said at the same time.

Neville nodded. "Yes. It's not an actual key, like the muggles use, but one you can use with your wand. A simple incantation that allows your wand, and only your wand, to open the door. All teachers, however, must know the password. Does that sounds alright?"

"No," Fred muttered, at the same time Scorpius let out a relieved, "Yes, thank you sir."

Neville nodded. "It's done then. And it's late. You'd better head off to bed, Scorpius. It's past ten and lights out for second years was an hour ago."

"Oops." Scorpius's lips quirked up.

Neville gave him a considering look. "What _are_ you doing up so late, anyway?"

"Things in the common room," Scorpius said evasively. "School-related things, and the like…"

"Liar." Neville chuckled. "I swear, if I go in there and Clarie's still up…"

Scorpius gulped. "Don't worry about that, sir. I think everyone was just going to bed when I left. It was very quiet. No disturbances."

"Mhm." Neville certainly didn't believe that. "Just like last night when the two of you stayed up for hours on end, and we had to practically drag you out of bed to eat breakfast?"

"Oh, you noticed that?"

"Yeah, I noticed that." Neville shook his head, a reluctant smile creeping onto his face. "Kids need sleep, Scorpius. Don't stay up like that every night. If you do, try and make it a weekend, okay?"

"Yes sir." Scorpius grinned sheepishly, and headed towards his door. "Come on Aria," he whispered, as the portrait swung shut before him, "let's get you to bed."

* * *

For the first couple weeks of second year, classes droned on. Scorpius was beginning to realize that his second year at Hogwarts would be nowhere near as interesting as his father's had been. He supposed this was a good thing, since several students had ended up petrified that year, and Ginny Potter (then Weasley) was nearly killed. This would've resulted in Albus, along with his brother and sister, never being born, and maybe a whole bunch of other things delicately woven in the pattern of time. Scorpius figured he'd better count himself lucky his second year wasn't quite so eventful.

Besides, it wasn't like his first year had been very eventful either. He'd made new friends and had to get used to doing his school work while taking care of his baby sister, but other than that, things were pretty normal last year.

"I'm bored," Albus said one Saturday afternoon, when he, Scorpius, Rose and Clarie were sitting under a large tree on the grounds.

"When's quidditch tryouts?" Clarie asked him, just to make conversation. She'd already asked him this at least four times in the past week alone.

"Next Saturday," the rest of the group said, all at once.

It could be said that they were all a little bored.

"We should go looking for an adventure," Albus muttered. "No sense just doddling around. Our parents had already found themselves in heaps of trouble by the time they were our age."

"And you mum and dad were nearly killed for it," Rose reminded him. "Remember the stories? Big, scary, half-formed Voldemort tortures innocent eleven and twelve year olds?"

"But we're different," Albus insisted. "We're their kids. We didn't grow up the way they did."

"Nothing was wrong with the way Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur raised my dad and your mum," Rose said, sounding offended.

Albus huffed. "I meant the way my dad was raised, Rosie. By insolent muggles who hated him and tried to suppress his magic. We've all grown up around magic. Imagine the hijinks we should be getting into."

"Imagine the trouble that'll cause," Rose retorted.

Scorpius frowned and glanced at Clarie. He was a little surprised to see her already looking back at him.

"Well…" Clarie hesitated. "I mean, we are bored, aren't we?"

Rose turned to her in exasperation. "Clarie, you have to be kidding. Please tell me you're kidding? Please say you're not agreeing with Al, that we should go looking for trouble?"

Clarie looked down at her lap, and Scorpius knew that Rose could tell that this was exactly what Clarie meant.

Rose turned to Scorpius. "And you?" she demanded. "Do you think we should go looking for trouble as well?"

"Not trouble, precisely… More like an adventure." He sounded hopeful, even to his own ears. Rose's face fell.

"You're all going to do whatever it is you're doing with or without me, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Probably."

"Most likely."

Rose sighed. "Then I guess I'm in too. Can't have the three of you expelled from school while I'm still stuck here doing charms and potions."

Clarie giggled, Albus let out a whoop, and Scorpius grinned at her.

"Adventure here we come!" Albus said happily.

* * *

The hardest part about deciding to have an adventure, was finding an adventure that needed to be had.

Scorpius, Albus, Rose, and Clarie all did a lot of personal research in the library after that, looking for things in the magic world that hadn't yet been solved, or spells yet to be tested. They searched high and low, but nothing stuck out. It seemed that everything had already been done.

"We could go back in time?" Albus suggested.

The girls shot that down immediately, and even though the thought peaked Scorpius's interests a bit, he knew it would be an irresponsible and dangerous, not to mention unnecessary, thing to do. Scorpius couldn't do anything too risky, out of fear for what might happen to Aria if he wasn't there to take care of her.

"We could sneak into Hogsmeade," Rose said, shrugging.

"Lame," Albus muttered.

"We wouldn't get caught anyway," Clarie said. "I'm allowed to go into Hogsmeade whenever I please, since I live there most of the time."

"We could hide out in the Whomping Willow," Scorpius said after a while.

Albus shook his head. "No go. Already been done. That tree was built for Teddy's dad when he was attending here as a werewolf. Teddy used to sneak in there all the time. With Victorie."

They all smirked when he said this.

"Teddy and Victorie sitting in a tree?" Rose giggled. "How cliche."

"Well there has to be something," Clarie said, slamming a book of hexes shut and putting it back on its shelf.

But there wasn't. At least, there was nothing completely safe, that hadn't been done already, in any of the books the four kids looked in. It appeared that they would have to come by an adventure completely of their own accord.

"Why don't we visit Hagrid?" Rose said.

"Sure, why not." Albus sighed. "It's as good an idea as any."

Scorpius and Clarie agreed, somewhat dejectedly. They both liked Hagrid, but they couldn't think of any type of adventure that could be had sitting at a too-big coffee table with a half-giant man well into his years.

* * *

"Well if this isn't a happy sight!" Hagrid exclaimed, the second he opened the door. He ushered the four of them in, beaming at each one as they passed. "How are my favorite little second years doing?"

"We're utterly bored," said Clarie, flopping down on hagrid's bed. Albus perched himself on the counter. Rose and Scorpius took a politer route and sat at the table, across from Hagrid.

"Bored?" said the giant. "Bored at Hogwarts? Impossible! Why, your parents couldn't go a second in this school without finding some kind of trouble."

"And they paid the consequences," Rose muttered. "Aunt Ginny nearly died when my parents were in their second year, Hagrid. Don't you remember?"

Hagrid's smile fell. "'Course I remember. Was off ter Azkaban meself, when that there happened, but I heard about it alright. Couldn't 'a' been sadder, I say. Never did I meet such a sweet little thing…"

Albus sat up straighter. "Don't be upset, Hagrid. My mum's alright. My dad found her."

Hagrid gave Albus a watery smile. "Couldn't 'a' been prouder 'a' your dad 'en that there day. Well, at the time, anyway. Did everything he could ter get me outta trouble, he did. Yer dad too," he told Rose.

She smiled back at him. "So you see Hagrid," she told him, "we want an adventure, but not so much danger as our parents, you understand. Their stories are thrilling, but the consequences of their actions varied in severity."

"English, Rosie," Albus cut her off.

Rose sighed. Scorpius took up for her. "We can't find any safe adventure that hasn't already been done by someone before," he told Hagrid. "You wouldn't happen to know of anything we could do, do you?"

Hagrid's eyes glinted. "As a matter 'o' fact, I do. But you can't tell anyone, ya hear?"

* * *

They certainly didn't tell anyone. Going into the Forbidden Forest was bad enough, but at night? They'd be in so much trouble if they got caught.

Scorpius had asked Hannah and Neville if they could watch Aria at their house tonight, because Albus would be spending the night with him. This was technically true; whenever they got back to the castle, if there was any time to sleep, Albus would be staying in Scorpius's room. Clarie's lie was a lot easier. She just told her parents she'd be sleeping in Rose's room tonight, like she did several nights during the year.

Now, strictly speaking, they definitely weren't the first kids to go into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid at night. But Scorpius thought there was something special about this trip. During their parents' first year at Hogwarts, each of Scorpius's friends had one parent that had gone into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid for detention. Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom had all gone into this forest many years back, and that was a group that would likely never be seen alone together again.

"You won't scare young Longbottom, will ya lad?" Hagrid asked Scorpius, looking a bit concerned as he surveyed the group.

Scorpius and Clarie grinned at each other. "It's more likely to be the other way around, Hagrid," Clarie told him. "But I promise to behave to the best of my ability."

Rose and Albus sniggered.

"Alright." Hagrid looked over the four of them. "I'll do the groups different this time, than either of the groups I did with your parents, just in case. Draco—er, Scorpius. My bad."

Scorpius smiled patiently at Hagrid.

"Scorpius, yer goin' ter go that-a-way with Rose here. Al and Clarie, you'll be with me."

"No dogs?" Rose asked, her voice trembling slightly. "Didn't Scorpius's dad and his partner go with a dog in the story?"

Hagrid looked sad. "Fang's no longer with us, Rosie. No one 'll bother you in there. Yer alright with these arrangements, yeah?"

They all four nodded.

"Good. Then we're off." Clarie and Albus followed Hagrid deep into the forest, while Rose and Scorpius crept the other way, clutching their wands tightly to their sides.

"Scorpius?" Rose whispered, after a few minutes of utter silence.

"Hmm?"

"Are you scared?"

He was terrified. "It's a little creepy," he said, "but don't worry. I'm sure there's nothing to be frightened of."

Did she catch the waver in his voice that totally showed he was lying?

"Can I be scared anyway?" she asked, after another minute.

"I…" Scorpius wasn't sure what to say. "Sure. Yeah, that's understandable."

He wished he could grab her hand (to comfort her, not because _he_ was scared….that'd be ridiculous), but as their wand arm was the right for both of them, that wouldn't really work out.

As they moved forward, Rose stepped on a twig, and Scorpius jumped back, a scream forming on hips lips.

Rose, eyes wide with horror, leapt forward and put her hand over his mouth, silencing him.

"I just stepped on a stick," she whispered. "I'm sorry. There's nothing out there. Please don't scream."

Scorpius nodded, and slowly, Rose drew her hand away. Scorpius let out a shaky breath. "My bad," he mumbled.

"It's okay to be scared," Rose told him, shrugging. "I certainly am."

"Do you regret going along with this?" Scorpius asked, when they started walking again.

Rose's lips twitched upward a notch. "No. It's been fun, spending all this time with you guys. If we had to be bored, at least we could be bored together. Besides, half of the adventure is finding it."

"Where'd you hear that from?"

"My mum." They both laughed. _Of course Hermione would've said something like that_ , Scorpius thought. _Hermione's brilliant._

"Did you hear that?" Rose demanded, slinging her arm out to stop Scorpius from taking another step forward. She was totally on alert now.

"What?"

"I thought I heard footsteps," Rose mumbled, "and not ours?"

"The others…?" Scorpius asked, feeling a tremor of fear rising up his spine.

Rose shook her head and whispered, "No, I don't think so. They didn't sound...human."

"Centaurs, then?" Scorpius asked, trying to sound lighthearted, when really, he was freaking out. Hagrid had told them the centaurs believed this to be their forest, and therefore anyone stepping on the lands was a trespasser. He also said they shouldn't bother children. But just because they _shouldn't_ , didn't mean they _wouldn't_.

"Possibly," Rose whispered, but she didn't sound as if she believed it.

Scorpius had started to shake all over. "What were we supposed to be looking for again?"

"The lost thestral," Rose said. "Don't know why Hagrid thought we'd be able to see it."

She risked a sideways glance at Scorpius, and he looked away quickly. There'd be no use in telling her that Hagrid had picked him to be in one of the groups alone because Hagrid already knew Scorpius had seen death.

"Let's keep going then," Scorpius decided, swallowing quickly. "If there is something out there, I don't want to be here when it decides to show itself."

Rose looked hard into the forest for a few more seconds before turning back to him with a sigh, and nodding. "You're right. Let's go."

They walked for several minutes after that, at least half an hour, maybe longer. Rose had started to complain about her feet hurting, and Scorpius had a stitch in his side.

"Are we sure Hagrid lost the thestral in the forest?" Scorpius demanded, after a while. "I mean, we haven't found it yet, so it could be anywhere—"

"What are you tiny humans doing in the forest at this late hour?"

Rose let out a shriek. Scorpius moved to step in front of her, only to realize soon that it was a centaur who'd spoken.

"Hello," Scorpius said, as calmly as possible. "Very sorry to disturb you, sir…"

"I am Ilurias," said the centaur. "You are foles, correct? From the school?"

"Yes sir," said Rose, who seemed to have composed herself. "We really didn't mean to disturb you. We were only out looking for a lost thestral. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you sir? I mean, after all, I hear centaurs are quite fantastic in seeing the future."

Scorpius had to hand it to her, Rose sure knew how to twist her wishes into compliments.

The centaur—Ilurias—stroked his somewhat-short beard in a thoughtful manner. Then he looked up at the stars.

"When the stars align, my young ones," Ilurias said, in a voice like silk, "then all your answers shall be revealed."

Rose and Scorpius looked at each other quizzically, and then back at the centaur.

"Forgive me sir, but that was quite a vague answer. Would you be so kind as to tell us if you know of any lost thestrals lurking about in the forest?" Rose said, and Scorpius could tell she was trying to sound hopeful.

"When the stars align—"

"—all of our answers will be revealed," Scorpius finished for him. "Yes, we heard you. We'd just like to know about the—Rose look!"

Scorpius stopped midsentence, blinking in astonishment at the horse-like thing standing not even fifty feet away.

Rose looked in the general direction Scorpius had pointed to, but her eyes were staring closer to the tree five feet away from the thestral than the thing itself.

"Scorpius," Rose whispered, "you know I won't see anything."

"Send up green sparks," Scorpius told her, moving forward to have a closer look at the thestral.

She did so, and then gasped when she turned around. "Scorpius, Ilurias is gone!"

Scorpius glanced back, but she was right, of course. The centaur was nowhere in sight. He shrugged. "We'd only been looking for the thestral anyway. Maybe our 'stars have aligned' and we've gotten all the answers."

"I think he was talking about something bigger than a thestral, Scorpius. They can see things, remember? Things that haven't happened yet…"

"I can do that," Scorpius muttered sarcastically. "I see Hagrid, Al, and Clarie coming this way because they saw our green sparks."

He moved even closer still to the thestral. Hagrid had told him it's name was Devil. A fitting name, since the thing looked as terrifying as a demon summoned straight from the pit of Hell.

"Here Devil…" Scorpius said quietly. The thestral inclined its head, staring through him with its empty eye sockets. "Come here Devil. We're not going to hurt you."

Scorpius pulled out his wand, and summoned the raw piece of meat Hagrid had left in his cabin. The smell made the thestral incline its head and move forward a step or two, but it still seemed hesitant.

"I tell you what," Scorpius said. "I'll make a deal with you, Devil. You can have this raw piece of meat if you come stand by me, and don't go anywhere until Hagrid can come find you."

Rose sighed. "Well if that's not an omen, I don't know what is."

"What?" Scorpius asked, eyebrows raised.

She bit her lip. "Well, I mean, you did just make a deal with the devil."

* * *

 **Was that too lame a pun? Oh well, I thought it was cute.**

 ***I don't own anything you recognize**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirll11**


	9. Finding Hagrid

**If you're looking for my excuse for why I haven't updated in forever….I'm sorry. My grandfather passed recently as some of you may know, so I've been spending more time with my family. Also, with end of the semester homework and the holidays…. Well, lots of excuses, but I won't give up on the story. So here's the update. Merry (late) Christmas and Happy (late) New Year!**

 **I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

"Where's Hagrid?" Rose mumbled after a while, huddled up next to a tree. Scorpius was not about to tell her that Devil, the thestral they were currently babysitting, was sniffing her shoe.

Hagrid and the others hadn't come when they'd sent up green sparks. Neither Scorpius nor Rose knew what that meant, but they had decided to stay where they were in case the others were just having a bit of trouble getting to where they were. They'd send up green sparks about every ten minutes.

Scorpius sat down beside her, trying to keep as far away from the thestral as he could without losing eyesight of it. Those things really freaked him out, despite Rose's and Hagrid's constant assurances that they were harmless creatures. To Scorpius, animals that could only be seen by people who'd seen death were a bad omen in and of themselves, and you could not tell him otherwise.

"Think they're lost?" Rose asked, when Scorpius didn't answer her previous question.

"Maybe."

Rose shivered. It was pretty cold out here at night.

"Aunt Ginny and Uncle Harry are going to kill me if they find out I've lost their son," she moaned. "And can you imagine what Neville and Hannah will say? Oh, it'd be the end of the world if they lost Clarie."

"We didn't lose anybody," Scorpius tried telling her, but inside, he was just as nervous about this whole situation as Rose was. Where were the others? Why hadn't they come when Scorpius and Rose had sent up sparks?

Rose didn't seem to hear anything Scorpius was saying to her anymore. "Mum and Dad are going to be so disappointed in me. Mum will say that I shouldn't have taken an unnecessary risk, and Dad'll say that I should've been sneakier about it, and not lost my cousin and best friend while doing it."

 _My dad wouldn't care one way or another if I died out here_ , Scorpius couldn't help thinking. At least he knew that if something happened to him, Neville and Hannah wouldn't let anything happen to Aria. He'd hate to put them out like that, but the Longbottoms were good people. They'd never let his little sister stay with his father, alone, in his current state.

"And then your parents will never forgive me," Rose said, totally succeeding in snapping Scorpius out of his reverie.

"What?" He blurted out.

Rose shook her head, eyes shut tight. "It's not like I thought they'd like me to begin with, but now they'll really hate me. I got their son lost in the Forbidden Forest."

"My parents wouldn't hate you," Scorpius said, feeling his throat tighten a little as he said it. He'd assumed that Rose had already figured out that his mum was dead, but maybe she hadn't. "No one could hate you, Rose."

This got a tiny smile out of her. "Quit it. I'm trying to be mournful over here."

"I'm serious," he told her.

A sigh. "Of course you are. You're always serious."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "That a bad thing?"

"No." She shrugged. "Well, okay, I take that back. You're almost always serious. There are the rare moments when you'll joke around with us, and those are really awesome moments. But I don't mind you being serious either. That's just who you are, and how you behave all the time, at least from what I've seen."

Scorpius shook his head slowly. "My mum once told me that I was the most serious little kid she knew. But I don't have to be serious with her." Scorpius forced himself to talk about his mum in the present tense. "My mum's the best. She can bring out the silly in just about anyone. Maybe that's why my dad married her, I don't know. But Aria is just like her." He said the last part a little wistfully, and Rose turned to look at him with an intense expression on her face.

"Did your parents know they were invited to Albus's birthday?" she asked him.

Scorpius blinked, momentarily caught off guard. "Why do you ask?"

She frowned. "I get the feeling that you didn't tell them you were going. Do they even know you're friends with us?"

Scorpius looked down at his feet. "My mum probably does," he mumbled. "My dad doesn't care who I'm friends with. He's knows my friends would be in Gryffindor, and that's all he'd see."

Rose sucked in a breath. "He wasn't happy with where you were sorted."

It wasn't a question, but Scorpius shook his head anyway. "No, he wasn't happy. But I was, so that's all that matters."

They were quiet for a while after that, until Rose stood up after a few minutes and said, "I'm going to send up red sparks."

This made Scorpius stand too, alarmed. "What? Why? They'll think something's wrong!"

"Something is wrong." Rose was frowning, looking up at the sky. "We've been sending up signals for at least an hour by now, and they haven't come for us. I want to know why."

And without another word, she thrust her wand in the air and sent up red sparks.

* * *

"I cannot believe Hagrid left us alone," Albus said, for probably the fifteenth time in the half hour it had been since they'd parted ways with Hagrid. "I mean it's not like either of us can see a thestral!"

Clarie privately agreed. What had Hagrid been thinking, sending Scorpius and Rose into the forest alone and then leaving her and Albus alone too, not long after? "He'll be back soon."

Clarie seriously hoped she wasn't lying to her friend. She could have no idea when, or if, Hagrid would be back, or why he left them to begin with.

"I lost Hermione Granger-Weasley's daughter," Albus said after a while, his voice thick. "She'll kill me. She'll kill me and then make a time-turner to bring me back, and she'll kill me again."

Clarie was not exactly what one would call the reassuring type. "If she had a time turner, why not go back and stop us from coming out here tonight? That way she wouldn't have to kill her nephew and her daughter would be just fine."

Albus shot her a glare. "Not funny Clarissa."

"I have begged you to stop calling me that."

"I know. That's why I say it."

Clarie huffed angrily. Why were boys so complicated? And why did she have to have a crush on _Albus Potter_ , the most oblivious and difficult person in the world? Why couldn't she have a crush on someone like Scorpius? After all, they were so close. She knew just about everything about him, and Clarie had told him so much about herself. They got along really well, unless they were fighting like cats and dogs. They were almost as close as siblings.

But then….maybe that was why she didn't like him like that. He was like a brother to her. Albus, on the other hand…

"Do you think we might run into any trolls out here?" Albus asked. "I'd love to meet a troll."

Clarie sighed. Albus was a different breed of boy entirely. "A troll would snap you like a twig."

"My dad, aunt and uncle all faced one in their first year," Albus pointed out.

"They got lucky," Clarie snapped. "I've heard this story too, Al, and they almost died. That was a nasty troll. I sure as Merlin don't want to meet one in the Forbidden Forest. Especially not after dark."

Albus huffed and sulked for the next several feet they walked. Neither knew where they were going, but Hagrid had told them to 'keep looking', even though they'd never be able to see what they were looking _for_.

"Has Scorpius seen someone die?" Albus asked abruptly. Clarie was so shocked that she ran into his back and fell on her butt.

"Al!" She hissed.

At least he had the decency to look apologetic. "Sorry." He helped her up. "Well, has he?"

Clarie wiped the mud and dirt off her backside, glaring at Albus all the while. "Well don't ask me! How on earth do you think I'd know?"

"You're his best friend," Albus said, and he didn't sound like it bothered him. "You're the one person he tells everything to. I figured if anyone knew, it'd be you."

Well, he wasn't wrong. Clarie _did_ know. Scorpius had watched his mother die, and his father tortured to insanity. Scorpius himself had been tortured under that awful spell, the one that had taken away Clarie's father's parents. But she couldn't tell that to Albus. It wasn't her secret to share.

"You'll have to ask him," Clarie mumbled, as she started walking again. Then she paused and glanced back at Albus, biting her lip. "But I wouldn't, if I were you."

"What?" Albus looked dumbfounded. "Why?"

"He'll tell you if he wants you to know," Clarie said stiffly. "Albus, we never had this conversation. You hear me?"

He nodded, eyes wide.

"Good." Clarie gave him a curt nod in return and started walking again.

They were silent for a very long time after that, and Clarie knew that Albus was itching for answers, but this was a conversation they just couldn't have.

"Did you see that?" Al asked suddenly, grabbing at Clarie's arm. She tried to yank her arm away, but he held tight.

"See what?" She snapped.

"Red sparks." Albus's eyes were focused on the skyline, but he was trembling. "I swear, I thought I just saw red—"

They both gasped, because Clarie saw the red sparks that time too. They ran in the direction of the sparks, ignoring the smart choice of action of watching where they were going and making sure this wasn't a trap. Clarie was sure Albus was thinking the same thing as her: their friends were in trouble. They couldn't leave Rose and Scorpius to fend for themselves.

By the time the third set of red sparks went up, Albus and Clarie burst into a small clearing, falling on top of each other.

"Merlin! You about gave me a heart attack," said Rose Weasley's voice as she hauled Clarie to her feet. Scorpius was doing the same for Al, who Clarie had fallen on top of. "You alright?"

"Me!?" Clarie screeched. "Am _I_ alright!? What the bloody blazes are you two thinking, sending up red sparks like that? We thought you were in trouble!"

Clarie could hear Scorpius's low voice assuring Albus that they were fine, and asking how his arm felt. Clarie turned, and swore. Albus had a long gash down the length of his arm. That must've been where he'd fallen. Even worse, Clarie was sure she could see bone.

She turned green. "Albus, your arm!" She cried.

They all turned to her in surprise. "It's okay," Albus told her. "Just a little cut."

Clarie frowned and looked back at his arm. What the…? She was sure, just seconds before, that she'd seen Albus's arm, broken and bleeding all over the ground. Now you could barely see the tear in his robes.

"Never….. Never mind," she mumbled.

All of her friends were giving her these weird looks, like they thought she was crazy. And maybe she _was_ crazy. Why had she seen that gruesome picture of Albus's arm.

"Where's Hagrid?" Rose asked, breaking the silence.

"We don't know." The others probably didn't hear Albus's voice catch, but Clarie had been with him all night. He was really worried about Hagrid, and terrified to be in the Forbidden Forest without an adult. To be honest, so was Clarie, on both accounts. They needed to find Hagrid quickly.

"Where was he when you separated?" Scorpius asked straightening up.

Al gave Clarie a look that said he clearly hadn't been paying attention to where they'd been when Hagrid had left them either.

Rose sighed. "Shall we make another deal with the devil, then?"

"That joke was lame the first time you said it," Scorpius pointed out. Clarie and Albus gave them both puzzled looks.

"What are you talking about?" Al demanded.

Scorpius turned, his cheeks turning light pink. "We found the thestral."

"You found it," Rose muttered under her breath. Clarie felt like kicking her. She didn't know how much Rose knew, but Clarie got the feeling Rose had some inkling that Scorpius had watched someone die, and was therefore the only one among them that could see the thestral.

"Why'd you call it a devil?" Al asked.

Rose grinned. "That's its name."

This made Clarie roll her eyes. "'A deal with the devil'? Really Rose?"

Rose nodded, proud of her joke. "I know. Don't hate me because I'm brilliant."

"We really need to get you away from your mum more often," Al grumbled. The other two cracked a smile, while Rose rolled her eyes.

"Seriously though," Scorpius said, trying to keep from straying off topic, "we need to find Hagrid."

"Anyone know how to send a patronus?" Rose suggested, not really expecting anyone to know how.

"I do," said Albus and Scorpius at the same time, and Clarie said, "My dad might have shown me."

"Really?" Rose looked shocked.

"My dad's Harry freakin' Potter," Al pointed out.

Rose shot him a dirty look. "What have I told you about using that argument?"

Scorpius stepped up, hoping to avoid another family feud. "My dad showed me a long, long time ago. He and my mum wanted me to be prepared, so they taught me exactly how to do it when I was much younger, but I've never actually produced a patronus, or tried to for that matter."

He avoided Clarie's eyes as he said that, but he could tell she was watching him.

"My dad's done it in front of me several times, and showed me how to do it with a pencil once when I asked."

Rose shook her head. "You people amaze me. Truly. We're second years. Our parents didn't know how to produce a patronus until their fifth year."

"Third year for my dad," Al corrected her, "and fourth for my mum."

Scorpius stepped between them, because Rose was beginning to get a twitch in her eye.

"However," she continued, through clenched teeth, "none of them figured out how to send them as messages until they were adults."

"I'd like to know what my patronus would be," Clarie said, quite randomly.

"James's is a dog," Albus said, chuckling. "The day he first produced one, Uncle Ron nearly laughed himself to death that the famous Harry Potter's oldest son shared a patronus with his fun-loving man child of an uncle."

"Watch it," Rose warned. "That fun-loving man child is my father."

"Guys," Clarie groaned. "Bigger fish. Hagrid's still gone and we have an invisible skeleton pony to get back to the school remember? Oh, and we're still lost."

"In the Forest," Scorpius added unnecessarily. "Yeah, great."

* * *

"I'm telling you, they went this way!"

"Ava, get off my foot!"

James Potter was frustrated to have had to have brought his best friend along with him on this mission. He was also a bit frustrated that his best friend happened to be a girl. It made things that much more difficult when they needed to sneak out in the middle of the night. Also, they were both fourteen and at that age where they were getting taller, and were about the same height as one another at this point, so it was very hard for the both of them to hide under James's father's invisibility cloak unnoticed. There were still people in the common room, so they had to be very careful and quiet.

Ava Hollingsworth was a powerful witch, but clumsy in matters of everyday life. She could flawlessly perform practically any spell James could think of, but would trip over her own feet on her way to Potions.

"Remind me again why we're doing this," Ava hissed at him, once they were out of the portrait hole of their common room.

"Because I saw my little brother and his group of friends sneaking off to Hagrid's hut several hours ago, and they haven't come back."

"Were you _spying_ on him?" Ava accused.

James could've said no, and he would've had a million believable excuses, but Ava was his best friend. She'd see right through him anyway, so why lie? "Of course I was spying on him. He's my brother. Can't let him get into more trouble than me. I might lose my rep."

"What rep?" Ava snorted, but she didn't seem to disagree with him now about finding Albus and the others.

They took their time making a path out of the castle where they wouldn't be seen or heard. That wasn't a major problem, seeing as James had scoured every inch of this castle in his first year and knew all the secret passageways and where all the teachers would be at what time. Peeves was often unpredictable, but besides him, James had only been caught once by someone while under the cloak. And that someone was standing right next to him, just as invisible as he was.

He'd had to hand it to her then; Ava was smart. She'd been raised a witch all her life, being a halfblood, and she'd heard a thing or two about invisibility cloaks. It didn't take her but a second to deduce that it would, of course, be the famous James Sirius Potter under that cloak. Ava had agreed not to tell on him, as long as she was allowed to accompany him on whatever adventure he was going on. James hadn't put up much of a fuss; he didn't have many friends yet, so he had no one else to do these things with.

Ava had proved to be very effective in his adventure. She was very smart, like James's Aunt Hermione, but unlike his aunt, she wasn't hesitant to get her hands dirty. She didn't mind getting in trouble or just not turning in her work because she'd had better things to do the night before. It wasn't that she couldn't do it. She could do most things magic better than anyone else in James's year. Ava just didn't value her intellect as something that should be judged solely on grades. She just wanted to live a little.

"I don't think anyone's inside."

"Hmm?" James glanced up, and was surprised to see that they'd already made it to Hagrid's hut. That didn't seem like it had taken as long as it usually did.

Ava was right. There were no lights on, and James couldn't see anyone hiding in the dark through the windows. Hagrid's form was always visible when he was asleep, even in the dark, so it could only be determined that neither he or the second years were there anymore.

"Did you see them leave the hut?" Ava asked, sounding a little worried. Try as she might to dislike them, James knew that Ava absolutely adored his his little brother and his friends.

James shook his head. "No, but from my window I don't have a view of the back."

Ava slipped off the invisibility cloak and treaded lightly to the back of Hagrid's hut, James following closely behind her. "Mhm," she said after a minute. "They definitely went this way. There are several fairly fresh footprints leading from the back door too…"

Suddenly, she trailed off, all the color draining from her face. James gave her arm a little shake, but Ava didn't move. "Ava, what is it? Where did they go?"

Ava lifted a shaking finger and pointed...directly towards the Forbidden Forest.

James swore. "Of course those bloody idiots went in the Forest! Bollocks. I knew I should've kept a closer watch on them when they started acting funny."

"Funny how?" Ava asked in a trembling voice. Ava wasn't scared of much, but she and James had one big rule in their adventures: Never go in the Forest. James didn't know why exactly Ava was so scared of it, but he'd agreed pretty easily that the Forest could be off limits for their little excursions.

"They've been acting distant lately," James admitted. "All four of them, actually. Been spending a lot of time in the library, and whispering around the common room like someone might be spying on them."

"Really?" Ava looked surprised. "I could've sworn that every time I see them, they all just looked bored out of their minds."

"Bored?" James demanded, throwing his hands up in the air. "Well that's just great. Now we know what they've done. They've gone off to try and find an adventure. Al and I grew up on hearing Dad's adventure stories around Hogwarts, and all the pranks and stuff our grandfather and his friends pulled in their days. If he's bored, that means he didn't feel he was living up to his full potential as a Potter."

Ava simply stared at him. "Wow," she said. "The two of your really are mental. Why can't you just be normal wizards and go to school like the rest of us?"

James snorted, unable to resist even in this dire moment where he might have to save his brother, cousin and their friends. "Ava, when's the last time anyone ever called you normal?"

"That time my boggart appeared as a giant werewolf, rather than something stupid like a teacher handing me a bad grade."

"That was a rhetorical question."

"Then make it a statement next time if you don't want me to answer your question."

Ava sighed, and trudged toward the Forest. James had to jog to keep up. "Hey, where are you going?"

She raised an eyebrow at him as if what James had just said was completely mental. "To find the kids, of course."

"In the Forest?"

"That's where they went, isn't it?" Did James detect another tremor in her voice?

"Ava, you don't have to do this you know. We can go back, see if Neville could come looking—"

"What, and get his kid, along with your brother, cousin and Scorpius Malfoy, in major trouble for being out this late, and in the Forbidden Forest no less? That'd be stupid James, even for you. Now come on."

"Alright…" James followed her, figuring this would be a very bad idea, but knowing Ava was right. They had to find Albus, Rose, Clarie and Scorpius.

* * *

"I cannot believe they fell asleep," Clarie muttered, her head leaning against Scorpius's shoulder. Albus was sprawled out on the ground with his back to the log the rest of them were sitting on, and his head back. He was snoring quite loudly.

Rose, on the other hand, had fallen asleep with her head in Clarie's lap. Clarie had been unable to move for the last twenty or so minutes, so Scorpius had offered his shoulder for her to lean on. Now they were both cold and uncomfortable. At least Al and Rose were calm enough to fall asleep.

Scorpius yawned. "Should we send up red sparks again?" He wondered aloud.

Clarie's voice was tiny when she replied. "I don't think Hagrid's to where he can see it, Scorp, or he would've come by now."

Scorpius had been thinking the same thing for a while now, but he was trying to remain hopeful. And that meant periodically sending up sparks with his wand.

Scorpius reached over for his wand, trying not to wake Rose or make Clarie have to get off his shoulder. It worked, but he had to maneuver his way around the girls in odd angles. He sent up red sparks a couple times, and then sighed, holding on to his wand like a lifeline. It was better to keep it ready.

"Aria's okay, you know," Clarie said.

Scorpius turned to frown at her. Clarie shrugged. "That's what you were thinking, right? That you're not scared for yourself out here, but of what might happen to your sister if you don't get back?"

Scorpius nodded slowly. That was exactly what he'd been thinking, in the back of his mind at least. How on earth had Clarie known?

"I can read you like a book," she laughed, her voice devoid of much humor. "You're a good big brother, Scorpius. Don't worry. My dad'll come looking for us in the morning. You'll see your sister again. And trust me when I say that she's in good hands."

Scorpius ducked his head, trying discreetly to wipe at his eyes without Clarie noticing. "I know. Hannah and Neville are—"

"There you are!"

Rose and Albus both jumped awake at the voice. Scorpius nearly fell off the bench, and Albus smacked the back of his head against the log. "Owe," he moaned.

"Merlin, are you guys alright?" It was James, and his friend, Ava. James ran over to Albus first, trying to check him for injuries and looking over his head, but Albus pushed him away, seemingly annoyed.

"James? What the bloody hell are you doing out here?" Al demanded, rubbing furiously at his tired eyes. Ava quickly came over to the girls, asking quietly if they were alright.

James stepped back, and Scorpius was instantly nervous. James had this fire in his eyes as he looked at his brother that Scorpius had never seen before.

"What am _I_ doing here!?" He demanded. "What are _you_ doing? Albus, we have been looking everywhere for you. What the bloody blazes were you and your stupid friends thinking, going out after hours and not coming back? Why are you in the Forest!?"

Albus seemed to shrink in on himself a little. "We weren't alone," he said defensively. "Hagrid was with us. He—"

"Where is he?" James demanded, angrier than Scorpius had ever seen him.

"We don't know." Scorpius stepped in quickly, standing right beside Al and silently offering his support to his friend. "We were looking for a lost thestral. Hagrid sent us in groups. He went with Al and Rose while Clarie and I went on our own."

"And did you find the thestral?" James demanded, in a tone that implied that he seriously doubted it.

Scorpius continued to look into James's brown eyes as he reached for the rope behind him that was tied to the log they'd all been sitting on just moments ago. Still looking at James, Scorpius urged Devil forward, grabbed James's wrist, and put his hand on the thestral's head. James jumped back. "What the—"

"That's a thestral alright," said Ava Hollingsworth's small voice. Scorpius's head snapped in her direction, and saw that she was staring right at the thing. "Don't worry Jamie. It won't hurt you. It wouldn't hurt a fly, not if Hagrid's trained it."

James seemed to bite his tongue at that, looking at Ava as if she were a delicate piece of glass that might shatter at any second. Scorpius didn't know the girl very well, but he knew enough about her to know that was anything but the truth regarding her. Ava Hollingsworth was strong and powerful, and Scorpius pitied the person that ever dared say otherwise.

"You can see it?" Al, oblivious as always, asked Ava in amazement. "That's wicked."

James smacked his little brother upside the back of his already bruised head, making Al yelp. Scorpius couldn't blame James though; if he'd been close enough, he'd have hit Al himself. The blubbering idiot never knew when to shut his mouth.

Ava tried not to make eye contact with anyone. "Now that two people here can see the creature, shall we return it to the castle and get you kids back to bed before anyone finds you missing?"

"But what about Hagrid?" Rose demanded, always the worrier. Scorpius loved that about her. Sometimes, it was dangerous, but Scorpius had to agree with her now. He wasn't leaving this forest without knowing Hagrid was alright.

"Hagrid's a big boy, Rosie," James told her gently, as if trying to calm a spooked animal. "He'll be alright."

Rose glared at him. "You don't know that for sure, James Potter, and I am not leaving this forest until I know Hagrid is okay."

And to prove her point, Rose plopped back down on the log and crossed her arms over her chest.

Scorpius sighed. He hated conflict, especially with his new friends, but he knew what he had to do. It only took him two strides before he, too, was at the log, and he sat down right next to Rose. Clarie was next, and she gave them both a quirky little smile. Clarie had always had problems with authority, and Scorpius had a good mind to know she wouldn't give up this fight easily.

Albus was the last one to sit down, mostly because he had to struggle past his older brother to do so. Ava was staring at the four of them with a grim face. Scorpius figured she knew they'd pull something like this, and was just waiting for it.

James, however, was furious. "You four get your scrawny butts up and hightail it back to that castle or I'm owling your parents!"

"Well Merlin, I hope we've found Hagrid by then," said Clarie innocently.

James sneered at her. "Your father's right up at the school—"

"Actually, he and my mum are in Hogsmeade. The place is under high-security lock down. You won't be able to get in until dawn."

"My father then," James growled. "Any of you looking forward to tangling with Harry Potter? Al? Rose? Anyone want to take on the man that conquered the Dark Lord, oh, how many times?"

Scorpius, in fact, did _not_ want to be confronted by Harry Potter by any means, but this was important. Scorpius was a Gryffindor. The whole point of his house was to be brave and stand up to adversity. If that meant facing off these two fourth years, or even the great Harry Potter himself, then Scorpius figured he might as well do so.

"Dad loves Hagrid," Al said through his teeth. "So does Mum and Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron, and even Clarie's parents. You cannot threaten us with people who also want to see him safe. If you think you can get any one of us to agree with you, go ahead and try. But as of now, it's four against two, and we all have wands here. Powerful parents make for powerful kids. You know I can take you in a duel, Jamie."

"I know you can try your hardest, runt. Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're my brother—"

"Okay, that's enough!" Ava shouted, silencing them all. "I am sick of all the fighting! James, it's clear they're not going to come with us until we know that Hagrid's alright, and I know for a fact you want to know that yourself. I'd bet anything you'd be coming back up here by yourself once we got these four back up to the castle, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would." James actually sounded offended. "If Hagrid's out there, I gotta help him."

"Well so do we!" Clarie practically screamed. "And if you'd get off your high horse for one measly second, James Potter, you'd find that second years aren't as incapable with magic as you think we are."

"Two of you were asleep when I got here."

"And two of us were keeping watch," Scorpius countered. James turned to glare at him too, which made Scorpius instantly feel horrible. He liked James Potter almost as much as he liked his brother. The guy had never been anything but kind to him, and now Scorpius was strongly reminded of the phrase. _If looks could kill._

"Jamie," Rose said softly. "You know we're capable. We brought Hagrid into whatever this mess is. We need to be here to help get him out of it."

Ava turned to James with a small smile, that clearly said he couldn't beat that argument.

James slumped onto the log beside his brother. "I am so going to kill you later."

* * *

"I am so bored," Ava groaned from her position of laying on James's lap. Technically, she, James and Albus were supposed to be taking this watch while Rose, Scorpius and Clarie slept, but Albus had been out like a light not even five minutes into his shift. James only had to glance at his best friend to tell she wasn't far from falling asleep herself.

"Don't you dare," James sniggered. "We need someone who can see the thestral awake at all times, and I do not feel like staying awake with only Scorpius Malfoy for company."

"You like Scorpius," Ava grumbled, burying her head deeper against James's robes.

James shook his head laughing and shoved Ava off him. "Sure, but he's mad at me right now, and I like your company more. Come on, stay awake. It'll be like a slumber party."

This made Ava snort so loud, Rose rolled over in her sleep and Albus made a whining noise.

"Yeah James, let's just have a big 'ol slumber party in the Forbidden Forest while our good friend Hagrid is missing and we're making sure monsters don't attack a group of second years. Sounds like loads of fun."

"Don't forget babysitting the invisible skeleton pony," James added, just to tick her off. His jibe had the opposite effect, however. Ava sat back down on the log and hung her head.

"That's exactly what it looks like," she whispered.

"What?" James had to lean in closer to hear her.

"The thestral," she clarified. "He looks like a skeleton horse. For once, I think Hagrid picked a very fitting name for an animal."

James sighed and wrapped an arm around Ava's shoulder, stifling a yawn. "He won't hurt you Avs. Hagrid trained him up, and he should be real sweet."

"You just have to wonder," she said quietly, "why a person can only see them if they've seen death. I mean, how morbid is that?"

James shrugged. "It's kind of interesting, if you think about it. Hagrid, my dad, Neville and Aunt Luna can all see them, and they aren't afraid of them. Sometimes, the people who've seen death are the most compassionate people because they realize just how precious life is, much more than someone who's never seen death."

Ava glanced up at him. "James Sirius, you do have a way with words."

"I'm thinking of forming a rock band. What do you think, muggle or magic tunes?"

Ava burst out laughing, and this time Clarie rolled over. James had started laughing too, so they had to shush each other for several minutes while each of them continued to giggle as quietly as they could, which only made the other laugh harder.

"Muggle tunes," Ava breathed, when she could finally get a few words out. "Wizards can't carry a tune in a bucket."

James was glad he'd gotten Ava to laugh, because that seemed to have woken her up a bit. When they finally settled down, Ava had a half smile on her face as she stared off in what James figured was the general direction of where the thestral was tied up.

"You okay?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "I miss my dad is all."

James nodded in understanding. Ava's dad had died at the end of their second year, and it had been really hard on her. Ava didn't talk much about what happened, but James knew for certain that Ava had been there to see her father die. It had been obvious to them when they'd come back to Hogwarts for third year and she'd seen the thestrals for the first time. Ava hadn't freaked out at the time, but she had remained very quiet. She didn't like the carriage rides much at all.

"Your mum still not talking to you much?" James asked carefully.

Ava shook her head. "Aunt Cara says to give her time to grieve, but it's been nearly two years, and she barely says a word to me over breaks. I think my aunt wishes I'd come home for good, but she doesn't understand. My mum never told her Dad and I were magical. I think Mum wishes I weren't a witch, because it reminds her too much of my dad."

"Ava, you weren't raised to be anything else. Your mum learned to live in the magic community more than the muggle one, and it's all you were used to. She can't ask you to give that up for a muggle life when you've never known one to begin with."

"Perhaps not, but that doesn't make the situation any less delicate for her."

They were silent for several minutes more, until Rose stirred and woke. "What time is it?" She wondered aloud.

"Do I look like a watch to you?" James smirked.

Rose rolled her eyes. "Never mind. Any sign of Hagrid?"

"No." Ava sounded worried. "Maybe we could look for a locating spell or—"

"THE MAP!" James suddenly exclaimed, so loudly that it caused the others to wake. Clarie and Scorpius's heads accidentally smacked together upon waking, and Albus fell against empty air—or what appeared to be empty air to everyone except Ava and Scorpius, that is.

"Merlin's beard, the devil's touched me!" Albus said, wide eyed. However, he seemed far too pleased by his own joke to be freaked out in any sort of way.

"The bloody hell are you on about James?" Ava demanded, turning away from Albus in exasperation.

"The map!" James said again, and pulled the infamous Marauder's Map out of the inside pocket of his robes. "I brought the map with me! How could I have been so stupid?"

"Won't get an answer to that," Albus said, shaking his head, "Been asking the same question every day of my life."

Everyone chose to ignore Albus out of habit, and crowded around James as he opened up the map, searching desperately in the forest for Hagrid's name and for their own. They found all six of their names easily enough; they weren't too far into the forest, despite how far and long the four second years had walked looking for the thestral. Hagrid, however, was much more difficult to find. It took them several minutes to find Hagrid's name, but what they saw did not make sense.

"He's...with our parents," James said in confusion.

"All our parents," Rose whispered.

Sure enough, Hagrid's name was right in the middle of a clearing in the Forest surrounded by Harry and Ginny Potter, Ron and Hermione Weasley, and Neville Longbottom. Ava's mother and Scorpius's father, of course, wouldn't have been there, and Scorpius assumed Hannah was back in Hogsmeade with Aria.

"Oh, we're in such trouble," Rose groaned.

* * *

Rose had been quite right indeed. The six of them were in loads of trouble. Hagrid had apparently experienced doubt at leading the children on an adventure of this nature, and had sent word to their parents, who had apparated to Hogsmeade and met Hagrid in the clearing, waiting on their children.

Harry and Ginny had been outraged to find James and Ava were among the little group, having only known about Albus. Scorpius thought he saw a glint of pride when they looked at their oldest son, though. It was likely they were glad he'd gone looking for his little brother when Albus was so clearly getting himself into trouble.

Ron Weasley seemed quite unperturbed with his daughter getting into this kind of trouble, but Hermione was livid. She screamed and shouted at Rose until her face turned blue.

And then there was Neville. His judgement was reserved for Clarie and Scorpius alike. He was more disappointed in them than angry, and to Scorpius, that was much worse. He could deal with adults being angry at him; Merlin knows his father was angry at him more than anything else. But there was something about Professor Longbottom's disappointment that made Scorpius feel just awful about what he'd done.

Hagrid, at least, had the decency to look ashamed when the children explained that the only reason they'd been in the Forest for as long as they had been (which was several hours indeed) was because they had refused to leave the Forest without Hagrid, and they couldn't find him anywhere.

"You mean you didn't see any of our wand sparks?" Clarie demanded. "We sent them up every half hour! Green sparks, saying we'd found the thestral, and then even red sparks when we'd started to grow afraid."

"Afraid in the Forbidden Forest? Why Clarie, I'm shocked." Hermione said this quite sarcastically.

"Oh, don't act like you've never done this Mum," Rose snapped. She was incredibly angry at her mother for having shouted at her in front of all of her friends and was taking that anger out on her in any way she could.

"I never did it for no good reason!"

"It was for a very good reason!"

"You said earlier you and your friends went looking for an adventure!"

"Girls, honestly," Ron groaned, placing a hand on the shoulders of both his wife and daughter, both of whom shrugged away from his touch.

"Well, I said their punishments should fit their crime," Harry spoke up.

"Which means…?" James asked nervously.

"Well, it's up to your Head of House," he threw Neville a swift look, "but I think it would be fitting for the six of you to work for Hagrid for the rest of the school year."

Six pairs of eyes stared at him incredulously. Seven, if you counted Hagrid. But there could be no room for argument. And so began the rest of a very long year.

* * *

 **Eh, not too sure about the ending but i've had the majority of this typed up for a while and wanted to post it. I think it's alright though. Hopefully they'll be in their third year within the next couple of chapters. Not sure yet. Please review!**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	10. Scorpius's Real Home

**Hey guys, quick note: If I ever mess up and say "Mom" or "Mommy" instead of "Mum" or "Mummy," I'm sorry. I'm American, I'm from the south. It's hard to change my writing style enough to remember to put such little things in when I'm writing a fanfic set in Europe rather than America, but I'm starting to get the hang of it I think.**

 **Also, oh my gosh I'm so sorry! I had this typed up for a while and have even started typing Ch. 11, but then I just noticed today that I never posted Ch. 10 so I went and edited it during school and posted it ASAP. Again, sorry. And for my Auslly fans, I'll try and update WOSC and Already There whenever I can, hopefully very soon!**

 **I don't own Harry Potter**

* * *

"Last day in Azkaban," Claire sang, as a way of morning greeting to Scorpius, waking him up on their last day of second year. Neville and Hannah had kept having to reprimand Clarie for saying so-many-more-days-of-hell, so she had replaced it with Azkaban as a sort of snip in their direction. She still held a grudge against them for her and her friends' punishments.

Actually, they all did except for Scorpius. He felt he deserved it. He'd betrayed the trust of the Longbottoms. It was one thing for the others to get in trouble. It was only their parents to be upset. But for Scorpius, it was much worse. He knew so many people were disappointed in him.

"I'm not ready for summer," Scorpius complained.

Clarie put her hands on her hips in exasperation. "You don't _have_ to go back, you know."

"And you know I do."

They glared at each other for a long moment, before each turning away abruptly and changing the topic. They'd had this argument so many times that the two of them learned to just let it go after a few minutes or they wouldn't for hours, sometimes days. And the others had started to notice when events like this occurred.

Suddenly, Scorpius's owl, Alden, flew in through his window, and Scorpius groaned, knowing what was coming. Clarie dashed forward to grab the letter hanging from Alden's beak, but Scorpius got there first. "Move, cauldron head."

Scorpius elbowed Clarie out of the way and tore open the letter bearing his family's crest on the seal. It was a letter from his father, of course, stating that Scorpius and Aria were to return home immediately upon departure from Hogwarts, and not to idle around at friends' houses.

Scorpius sighed deeply. "I suppose this is my last day here, as well."

Clarie leaned forward to take a glance at the letter, but it was in Scorpius's good sense to keep her from seeing any of it. Clarie knew Scorpius's father was rude and not fit to raise children, but she did not understand that extent. Neville did, somewhat, along with Victorie Weasley and Teddy Lupin, but even they did not realize how hard Scorpius and his little sister had it at Malfoy Manor sometimes.

"Whatever," Clarie huffed. "Just get your stuff together. We have to be at Hagrid's before class, remember?"

"How could I forget?"

* * *

By the time Scorpius and Clarie had gotten their books together, ate breakfast, and made it down to Hagrid's, classes had already started.

"Rose and Al already left," Hagrid informed them, shaking his head with a little laugh. "Suppose since it's the last day, you two can go on as well, no charge."

"Thanks Hagrid," Scorpius said, but Clarie said nothing. She still was not pleased that Hagrid had not come to any of their calls, and had told their parents what they'd been doing months ago on top of it all.

They turned to run back to the castle, when Clarie suddenly stopped, turning back to Hagrid with wide, terrified eyes. "Hagrid," she breathed, "what happened to your face?"

She saw Scorpius walking back towards them both out of the corner of her eye, and he was frowning. Hagrid was too.

"What're you talkin about?" Hagrid reached up to his face, and Clarie was amazed to see it was completely normal. What in the world? She could've sworn there had been gashes and scrapes all over Hagrid's face just moments before.

"Clarie?" Scorpius sounded concerned.

"Never mind." Clarie glanced down at her shoes, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. That was _terrifying_. "Let's get to class before Dad has our heads."

"What's wrong with my face?" Hagrid called after them, sounding a bit upset now.

"Nothing!" Clarie yelled back. "Sorry Hagrid, thought I saw something. Forget I even mentioned it. See you this evening."

And she ran. Scorpius could barely keep up with how fast Clarie was running, and that's saying something. She and Scorpius had raced each other countless times, but it was usually he who won.

"Clarie!" Scorpius yelled, and Clarie yelped when he lunged for her arm, still at a run, and they both went tumbling down to the ground.

"What did you do that for?" Clarie screeched at him. "We're going to be late!"

"Who cares?" Scorpius stared at her incredulously. "Clarissa Bridget Wenlock Longbottom, you stop that this instant!"

For Clarie had been trying to gather her books and stand, but Scorpius was having none of that. "What is going on with you?" He demanded.

"Nothing," Clarie insisted. "I thought….It looked like Hagrid had a bit of mud on his face is all."

"Hagrid always has mud on his face, that's nothing new." Scorpius glared at her so fiercely that Clarie sat back down and dropped her books at her side again. "This is not the first time you've seen something that wasn't there. Tell me what you saw. What happened back there?"

Clarie bit her bottom lip. Should she really tell him this? Would Scorpius think her insane, report her to her father and have her thrown in St. Mungo's?

"I can't say," she whispered. "Papercuts, Scorpius, okay? Papercuts."

Drat. They're word for when a subject is unwelcome. Well now he was sure Clarie was hiding something major from him.

"Clarie." Scorpius groaned, but grabbed her hand lightly. "Look, you're my best friend. We're practically related. You know you can tell me anything. Whatever this is, you can't keep it inside. You're really starting to worry me. Please, Clarie, tell me what you thought you saw when you looked at Hagrid just now, and what happened with Albus back in the Forbidden Forest?"

But it wasn't just that. And Clarie couldn't tell him.

"I saw nothing." Clarie set her jaw determinedly and stared forward. She pulled her hand out of Scorpius's and stood, knowing how this must look to him. Knowing she was upsetting one of her only friends. Knowing there was nothing she could do about it. "Our first class is over. I'll be hanged if I dare miss my own father's class."

With that, Clarie stalked off down towards the greenhouses, pretending not to care if Scorpius Malfoy followed her or not.

* * *

Scorpius was dumbfounded. Clarie hadn't spoken a word to him all day after the incident with Hagrid that morning. He'd tried to get her to tell him what was wrong, but she'd shut him down quicker than he could blink. Scorpius could only assume this had something to do with her mounting resentment at him for his decision to take Aria and return to Malfoy Manor again this summer, per his father's angry request.

Clarie had come down to the Hogwarts Express to say goodbye to Albus and Rose. But although Scorpius would be traveling to Platform 9 ¾ with the both of them this year, Clarie still did not bid him goodbye.

"What's up with cranky?" Al whispered, as they lugged their suitcases into the train. Rose was saying her last goodbyes to Clarie just outside.

"No idea," Scorpius replied, which was all too true. He honestly could not figure out what he'd said or done that was so wrong it warranted the silent treatment from one of his best friends in the world.

"This isn't going to be like last summer again, is it?" Al asked nervously. "Because I don't think I can handle another showdown between the two of you the next time we're all in the same room together."

Little did Albus know, the next time Scorpius and Clarie would be in the same room together would be that very night.

"No," Scorpius laughed. "That was a stupid argument that lasted way longer than it should have. She's probably just...I dunno...experiencing….lady problems?"

He said it like a question. Albus shuddered. The two were never comfortable when this subject was brought to their attention by either girl in their little group of friends. Luckily, though, it forced Albus to look for a different subject to talk about, just in time for Rose to board the train.

"Onward we go." She smiled.

Scorpius found himself laughing, though his heart was only half into it. "Lead the way fair maiden."

Albus coughed and muttered, "You make me sick," as he brought up the rear.

* * *

"Where's Clarie?"

Scorpius's heart sank to his stomach at the sight of Hannah and Aria, standing alone in front of Scorpius's home. And he used the word 'home' lightly.

Hannah looked stressed and highly apologetic.

"She no come," Aria said, unnecessarily.

"I think she was just tired," Hannah said quickly.

"She's mad we left," Scorpius clarified. Then he sighed. "Mad enough not to say goodbye. Twice. Well, that's just lovely."

"Scorpius…" Hannah was visibly upset, so Scorpius forced a smile as he stepped forward to grab his little sister from her arms.

"Thank you for bringing her," he said, leaning forward for a one-armed hug.

Hannah stayed in the hug for much longer than was necessary. "Oh, sweetie you don't have to thank me. You know I'd do just anything for you." When she pulled away, she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "You write whenever you get the chance, you hear me? If you need anything, we'll be here in the blink of an eye. And if you need someone to babysit—"

"I know who to call." Scorpius laughed and hugged her again. "Thanks Hannah. I'll miss you."

Hannah looked like she might cry. "Oh my babies, I'll miss you too."

Aria seemed to sense the sadness in the air. "'Anna, why you cryin'?"

Hannah stroked Aria's hair. "I'm not crying, sweet girl. Don't you worry about a thing. Be good for your big brother, okay?"

"Okay. Bye bye 'Anna."

"Bye bye baby."

And Hannah had to turn around so Aria wouldn't see that she actually was crying.

Neville stepped forward then, placing one hand on Scorpius's shoulder and the other on Aria's back. "You kids need anything, promise me you'll call."

Scorpius nodded.

"Say you promise," Neville said, always a stickler. He knew Scorpius was not one who liked to lie, so he would make him say the words aloud.

"I promise to call if we need you."

Neville nodded, a small smile curving the corner of his mouth. "Alright, take care then. You'd better visit more than you did last summer."

"Yes sir," Scorpius laughed. He turned towards the house, grabbing the luggage and was about to open the door when Neville's voice called out, "And Scorpius?"

He turned. "Yes sir?"

"Don't worry about Clarie." Neville's face seemed much more open now than it had just moments before. "She'll come around. She's just upset."

Scorpius nodded again, but didn't say anything in reply. He turned and walked back to his old life, wishing he never had to, but knowing it was for the best.

* * *

"I hate leaving him here," Hannah whispered, when the door shut behind the two children she'd grown to love as her own over the past two years.

"I know," Neville sighed. "I do too. Very much."

"Then why do we?" Hannah demanded, turning her wide, teary eyes on her husband. "Why must we leave him at a place he's miserable at, where we know he won't even be looked after? Why not try and contest Draco's rights—?"

"The Malfoys would never stand for that," Neville cut her off. "Hannah, we've discussed this before. As long as Lucius and Narcissa are still living, Scorpius will never come to live with anyone other than their son. Draco may have no say-so due to his condition, but they are Scorpius's next of kin, and therefore, they have rights."

Neville was sure he could see real fire in hannah's eyes. "And when was the last time they so much as spoke one word to their grandchildren, hmm? When was the last time they bothered to pay a visit to their ailing son to see what's become of him because of their life choices? How does all that give them more rights to Scorpius and Aria's welfare than us, who look after them and love them every day of the year?"

Neville shook his head. "According to the law, blood is thicker than water."

"Hogwash." Hannah glared daggers at him. "That rule is absurd. That rule is what landed our daughter in the situation she found herself in when we first saw her."

"Hannah, can we talk about this later?" Neville pleaded, glancing back at Malfoy Manor with some trepidation. "There's nothing we can do about it now."

Hannah did not stop grumbling as he lead her away, but Neville figured even she knew he was correct. There was nothing they could do. No matter how much they loved Scorpius and Aria Malfoy, they were not their children and likely would never be.

* * *

Scorpius sighed as he made his way slowly into the house he'd grown up in, carefully setting down his little sister once they'd made it to the living room. It was always such a dreary place when Scorpius returned after a refreshing break away. What was he thinking? It was always such a dreary place _period_ , but it was more noticeable when one had been away for a while.

"Hullo Scorpius."

Scorpius yelped, and took a step back, meaning to step in front of Aria to protect her, but finding out soon enough that that was not necessary. For it was not an intruder, nor a Death Eater, that had surprised Scorpius. It was Harry Potter.

Scorpius had the strange little deja-vu feeling that this moment was much like the one he'd experienced last summer, when Hermione Granger-Weasley had been waiting for him at his house when he'd come home from Hogwarts after first year, or when he'd gone to Number 12 Grimmauld Place for Albus's birthday and Harry Potter had surprised him in the hallway. Scorpius didn't know why he was even that surprised anymore.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Potter, didn't see you there. Er, hullo sir."

Harry smiled, which was a bit strange to Scorpius, but at least he wasn't angry. Scorpius would be terrified out of his wits to see an angry Harry Potter.

Come to think of it, it was just Scorpius's luck that he'd gotten to be best mates with the son of the man Scorpius was almost as afraid of as he was his own father.

"I was just upstairs, checking on your father. He's sleeping. Should wake in a few hours."

 _Merlin's beard,_ Scorpius thought. Had Harry Potter put a sleeping spell on his father?

"So, did you see Ginny and Lily at the platform when you and Al got there?" Harry asked, sitting on the couch like he'd done this a million times. Seeing as he and his friends checked on Scorpius's father on a near daily occurrence, though, he probably had.

"Yes sir." Scorpius sat in the chair that was closest where his sister sat in the floor, playing with Scorpius's owl. Alden had appeared out of nowhere, somehow magically knowing where Scorpius was even though he'd forgotten to tell the bird this morning that he would not be returning to Hannah and Neville's house, or to his and Aria's dorm at Hogwarts.

Harry nodded. "Lily starts Hogwarts next year. She's been so excited. She and Lucy have spent a good deal of time together these last few months, discussing what it will be like for them." He chuckled. "You've met Lucy, haven't you?"

"Molly's sister, yes sir. She and your daughter are very outgoing." That was a nice enough compliment for Harry Potter's daughter and niece, right? It was the only thing he'd been able to think of at the time. It had been almost a year since he'd met either Lily Potter or Lucy Weasley.

"Yes,they are. Very outgoing and smart, the both of them. Luna's sons too, shockingly." Harry laughed, and Scorpius did too, figuring this was some sort of joke he should have been let in on.

"They'll be attending Hogwarts next year as well, then?" Scorpius asked, just to be polite. He honestly had no idea why Harry was still here, and would actually prefer him to leave. The awkward small talk was a bit much, though Scorpius appreciated the effort. He wondered if Al had put his father up to this, or maybe James. Either way, he'd kill the both of them if he ever found out this was the case.

"Lorcan and Lysander," Harry said, nodding again. Scorpius briefly wondered if Harry's head would fall off from nodding so much, because that seemed to be how he answered every question Scorpius did not dared to ask him. "The twins. Yes, they're quiet, but don't let that fool you. They're very sneaky. Might have even given Fred and George a run for their money."

"Oh, I high doubt that," Scorpius laughed, before he could stop himself.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Oh really? How would you know that?"

Scorpius seemed to shrink in on himself a little. "Well, it's just….I've heard all the stories. You see sir, Fred Weasley's portrait guards my dormitory and—"

"Fred's what?" All the color seemed to drain from Harry's face.

Scorpius was surprised. "His portrait. Didn't you know?"

"No."

Scorpius couldn't tell if Harry Potter was just shocked, angry, or upset. Maybe a mixture of them all.

"Do James and Albus know about this?" He demanded suddenly.

Scorpius didn't know what to say. "Er….I suppose? They've been to my dorm, so I suppose the must've."

Very suddenly, Harry stood. "Well then, if you'll excuse me…"

And he disappeared. Scorpius stared at the place Harry Potter had been. He hadn't even walked out the door to disapparate.

"Weird," Aria told him as she fiddled with the old radio by the fireplace.

"Yes it was," Scorpius agreed.

"Is Mama comin' home today?" Aria wondered, making Scorpius sigh. He pulled out his wand, knowing another fire was soon to come.

* * *

Three days into summer vacation, Clarie woke up several hours earlier than she needed to. Her mother wouldn't have to go to work for another two hours, and Clarie wouldn't be expected to wake until two or three hours after that. And there was no telling what time Neville would wake up during the summer. He generally liked to sleep in, but his internal alarm clock often woke him up early in the summer as well.

So Clarie was up at the crack of dawn. Her plan would require her being the only one awake for it to go off without a flaw.

Sadly, Clarie knew she would not get away with using magic this summer, despite the fact that she lived in a wizard village. No, this trip would have to be taken the muggle way. She did not want to risk being tracked.

Clarie grabbed a small bag and stuffed some breakfast bars in it, along with a water bottle. She didn't know how much she'd need, but she figured she would make it to her destination before sundown, so she wouldn't die of hunger or thirst.

And where was it, exactly, that Clarie was going? Well, her parents certainly wouldn't be happy if they found out. It was the one place in the world _she_ was prohibited to go while Scorpius was not.

She was going to Malfoy Manor.

* * *

It was late at night when Scorpius heard the doorbell ring. He groaned, because he'd already put Aria to bed, and she was likely to wake up and want to know who was there if she heard him talking to someone.

Scorpius rolled off the couch and set his spell book down. Whoever was here was keeping him from studying some very useful charms.

The doorbell rang again. It reverberated all around the house. "Alright, I'm coming, I'm coming," Scorpius said as loudly as he could without waking up Aria.

When Scorpius yanked the door open, a finger about hit him in the eye where a short someone was about to ring the doorbell yet again.

"Watch it!" Scorpius said, grabbing the finger of a very familiar hand. His voice had turned to nearly a growl as he said, "Lower your hat."

Clarie did so sheepishly. "Sorry," she laughed.

"Bloody hell Clarie, do you have any idea what time of night it is? Aria's asleep."

"Sorry," Clarie said again, trying to push past him, but Scorpius held his arm out. Clarie frowned up at him. "What, can't I come in?"

"No." Scorpius was adamant about this. It was one thing for Neville and his friends to come by, or even Teddy and Victorie. They were all adults, and only those who looked after Scorpius's father ever actually saw him. They were the only ones who knew about how hard it could get in this house. Scorpius did not want Clarie to see any of that.

"Scorpius." Clarie seemed outraged. "Honestly, do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get here? I've been traveling all day trying to find your house."

Scorpius closed his eyes and rested his head against the doorframe. "And why, might I ask, did you do that Clarissa?"

"Don't you Clarissa me, Scorpius Malfoy." When Scorpius opened his eyes again, Clarie was glaring at him. "I did not come all this way without magic and risk everything I did just to have you turn me away when I ring the doorbell."

This would not go over well, Scorpius was sure. If he sent Clarie away, she'd never forgive him and he'd lose his best friend. But if he invited her in….

"No," he said, shaking his head. He felt his stomach drop with fear of what he knew was to come. "I'm sorry Clarie, but you cannot come inside. Not now, not ever. This is no place for you."

"Yet you'll let your three year old baby sister stay inside the entire summer!"

"I'm with her." Scorpius knew she was just trying to rile him up, but he nonetheless felt anger welling up inside him.

"You'd be with me too, would you not?" Clarie said defiantly. "And what is it you think would be so bad if I stepped inside your house for a bit, hmm?"

Scorpius took a step towards her. "Clarie, do Hannah and Neville even know you're here?"

"Of course not!" She threw up her hands in exasperation. "They'd never have let me come, and you know good and well that you're not planning on visiting until Al's birthday at the very least. It'll be last year all over again, and I just won't stand for that. So either you let me in, or I'll find some way to drag you and Aria back to Hogsmeade myself."

Clarie pulled out her wand and pointed it menacingly at him. This did not bother Scorpius nearly as much as it would if he were facing the tip of anyone else's wand unarmed. Clary would never do anything to endanger his life. The most she might do is stupefy him and invite herself in the house, which Scorpius seriously hoped she wasn't thinking of doing.

"Carry!"

Suddenly Aria was there, pushing her way past Scorpius before he could even blink and launching herself into Clarie's arms.

"Aria!" Scorpius was livid. "I told you to go to bed!"

"I did, but I got up again," his sister replied cheekily.

Scorpius groaned, and in his small moment of distraction, Clarie pushed right past him into the house. "Oh you have got to be kidding me!"

"What's the matter dear?" Clarie grinned back at him "Are you upset you were outwitted by a child and a girl?"

"I not a child," Aria pouted.

"Oh no, I'm sorry." Clarie beamed down at Scorpius's sister. "No, you're not a child. You're a big girl."

"I a big girl," Aria repeated, giggling. "Like Mummy."

"Bollocks," Scorpius muttered, heading into the living room for his wand that he'd stupidly left on the side table when he'd gone to answer the door. He could've ended this whole ordeal easily if he'd had his wand to trap Clarie there until her parents could come and get her.

"That a bad word!" Aria called after him.

"So don't say it," was Scorpius's response when he reentered the entryway where Clarie was still standing with Aria in her arms.

Clarie wore muggle clothes—or what passed for them. Scorpius could never understand why wizards did not know how to dress like a common muggle. Some did, like Neville or Hermione. But people like Ron and Clarie had no idea. She was wearing a long, scarlet trench coat with a bright red t-shirt and green skinny jeans. To top it all off, she had a yellow fedora and brown cowgirl boots.

"Okay," he sighed, giving up. He had to ask. "Where on earth did you get those clothes?"

"A lost-and-found." She shrugged. "I know, they're awful. Kind of liked the hat though."

"You didn't even need a hat. And who wears a yellow fedora?"

"Is that what this thing is called?"

Scorpius sighed. "Yes. I was fortunate enough to learn how to dress myself in muggle clothing when I was a boy. Our mother was quite obsessed with muggle fashion."

"I wanna wear Mummy's clothes," Aria said, pouting. Suddenly a large, green fire erupted in the grate.

Scorpius sighed and went to put it out. "At least that's where fires are supposed to be lit."

Clarie gave him a pitying look as she set Aria down. "Does this happen more often at home?"

"Couple times a week."

"Sorry Bubba," Aria mumbled. Scorpius patted her head.

"It's alright Ari. Now why don't you go on upstairs and go back to sleep."

"But Carry's here," she protested.

"Clarie will still be here in the morning."

"She will?" Aria asked excitedly, at the same time Clarie said in a shocked voice, "I will?"

"Yes, yes." Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Well we can't just let her out into the street at this time of night, now can we?"

* * *

It had still taken a while for Scorpius and Clarie to wrangle Aria into bed, but that was something they were both used to from the many nights at the Longbottoms' house.

They were both breathing hard when they finally shut the door behind them, both leaning against it. Clarie laughed. "That was fun. Like old times, eh?"

"Old times?" Scorpius couldn't help but grin in spite of himself. "Clarie, I just saw you three days ago."

She beamed up at him.

"Scorpius!" A voice yelled. They both jumped, and Clarie's eyes widened slightly.

Scorpius shut his eyes. "Clarie, stay right where you are, I mean it." Then he walked for the door in which the voice was coming from. Clarie could hear him all the way down the hall as he entered the room and said, in an exasperated tone, "Merlin, Father, can't you keep your voice down? Aria's just been put to sleep."

Clarie crept closer to hear more clearly what was being said.

"There's someone else here!" Draco Malfoy barked. "I know it, I heard voices!"

"Father, you've been at the firewhiskey again. There's no one else here."

Clarie bit her lip. Scorpius hated to lie, and she knew he was only doing so for her benefit. Draco Malfoy would not like her being here one bit.

"I am not an invalid!" Draco cried. "I am your father and you will not lie to me! Tell me who is in this house right now before I'm forced to get up and see for myself. And your little friend won't like it if I find them on my premises uninvited, I can assure you that."

"Okay, okay!"

Clarie was hiding just by the doorframe and could see through the small crack into the room. Scorpius was holding his hands up in surrender as his father thrashed around in his bed. "Father, please calm down. It's just Mr. Weasley. He came to check on you, but I told him to bugger off until the morning, that it was bad enough he made house calls during the day. He needn't bother you with his presence during night hours as well. I'm sure he's leaving as we speak."

"See to it that he does," Draco seethed. Just as Scorpius went to turn around, though, Draco's hand whipped out from under the covers and wrapped itself tightly around Scorpius's lower arm. "And if I find out that you're lying to me, boy, there will be severe consequences."

"Yes sir." Scorpius ripped his arm away from his father's grasp, and Clarie just had time to scoot along the wall several steps before Scorpius came out. "How much of that did you hear?" He asked in a low, dangerous tone that Clarie had never thought in a million years would come from sweet little Scorpius Malfoy's mouth.

"Not much," she lied, but her voice came out as a sort of squeak, and she knew she'd been caught.

Scorpius let out a snort."Yeah, I bet." He sighed. "It doesn't matter. Come with me. I'll get you settled in for the night."

He set off at a brisk pace down the long hallway and Clarie nearly had to run to keep up. "These are our guest chambers," he said, keeping his eyes away from Clarie's. His voice was flat, emotionless. "I want you to lock the door the moment I leave and do not open it for anyone. If there is an emergency, I have a key. Ring the bell to let me know when you're awake and I'll tell you if it is safe to come out or not."

"I'm trapped?" Clarie said, incredulous.

"Think of it however you like." Scorpius still would not look at her.

"Scorpius...your father—"

"Papercuts, Clarie," Scorpius said, finally turning his intense eyes on her. He was using her words from the other day against her, Clarie was sure. But the ferocity she saw in his eyes made Clarie shut up pretty quick. She didn't need Scorpius to be any madder at her than he already was.

She sighed and stepped into the room. Scorpius shut the door behind her with a loud 'thud' before Clarie even had the chance to tell him good night.

* * *

Scorpius lay awake in his bed, tossing and turning. He was angry, so very angry, at Clarie, at his father, at the world in general. But mostly he just felt miserable. He was home, but this place hadn't really been his home since his mother had been killed. So really, Scorpius was away from his home. His home was Hogwarts, and the Longbottoms' small house. His home was his new family. His home was Neville out in the garden at all hours, and Hannah trying to teach Aria how to cook. His home was his friends and his baby sister. Scorpius was homesick, plain and simple. Homesick, even though by all legal standards, he was home.

Scorpius highly doubted Malfoy Manor would ever feel like home to him again.

 **I guess we'll pick up around the same spot next chapter. It would go o**

* * *

 **n way too long if I continued this the way I wanted to, so until then, later muggles.**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	11. A Mother's Love

**I don't own Harry Potter**

Scorpius was awoken by a loud shriek and then a lot of shouting. His feet got all tangled up in the sheets in his haste to get out of bed.

Finally, he made it out of bed and down the hall, where he found his father out of bed and pounding on Clarie's door in the guest chambers.

"Father!" Scorpius shouting, lurching forward. He was brought up short, however, when his father brought out his wand and pointed it threateningly in Scorpius's direction.

"Who is in my house?" He demanded, his voice pure rage.

"No one, Father, I—"

"DO NOT LIE TO ME BOY!" Scorpius flinched. "I know there is someone in my house, I can hear them. You got a girl in my house? A muggle?"

"No sir." Scorpius widened his gaze, trying to look scared as he reached for his wand inside his robes. That wasn't hard, considering he was absolutely terrified. "Father, I swear, she's a friend. She's from Hogwarts. She—"

"A mudblood?" His father seethed.

"No sir," Scorpius said again, his voice taking on a note of urgency. "She's a pureblood, father. Both her parents were pureblood."

Draco snorted. "I'd take you for a muggle lover, with your tainted house and all. Your little friends are tainted too, hmm?"

"No, Father." Scorpius would not say how angry it made him that his father cared about such things. Even when he was in his right mind, Draco Malfoy still had this air of someone who thought they were above everyone else.

"Hmm." Draco didn't seem to believe him.

"Father, please, let me take you back to bed."

"I'm sick of that bed," Draco snapped.

"Downstairs, then," Scorpius pleaded. "Father, there is nothing to be concerned about."

"There is an unwelcomed guest in my house, and I told you what would happen if I found one of your friends had snuck into my house in the night without an invitation."

"She had an invitation," Scorpius snapped back. "I invited her."

"You don't make the rules," Draco sneered.

"Really?" Scorpius rolled his eyes. "And you do? When's the last time you did any work around here, Father? When's the last time you got off you lazy, insolent—"

Goading his father was definitely the wrong choice. Scorpius had forgotten Draco still had his wand in his hand, and was uncontrollable with his magic when he was in his agitated state. Scorpius was lifted off his feet and into the air, hitting the wall behind him hard. His vision went black, and when he opened his eyes again, the first thing he noticed was that the door to the guest chambers was open.

Scorpius sat up gingerly. His father was mere feet from him, and he was holding Clarie tightly by the wrist, his face inches from hers. There was complete and utter terror in Clarie's eyes as she struggled futilely. Draco's grip was too strong.

Scorpius let out an angry yell, that was actually much louder than he'd intended, and jumped to his feet, wand instantly in his hand. "LET HER GO!"

Draco and Clarie both turned, but he was still holding her wrist in a tight grip.

Unfortunately, that was the moment Aria's door swung open. "Daddy!" She screeched.

Draco paid her no heed, but Scorpius's fear level only intensified by the presence of his baby sister. "Aria, get downstairs!" He yelled, his voice coming out commanding and frightened at the same time.

"But—"

"DOWNSTAIRS NOW!"

Aria burst into tears and ran back into her room, slamming the door behind her. It was not as far away from them as Scorpius wished her to be, but at least she was out of the direct line of fire. Clarie, however, was another story entirely.

"Let her go, Father," Scorpius said again. "This has nothing to do with her. This is between you and me."

It didn't seem like Draco wanted to comply, but something in Scorpius's challenging tone had him hooked. There was a gleam in his eye as he shoved Clarie away from him. She stumbled and fell to the floor, but was back on her feet in seconds, clutching her wrist to her chest. Her eyes pleaded with him, but Scorpius glared at her and then slid his eyes to Aria's door, his message clear. _Get my sister. Stay away. Keep her safe._

He wasn't sure if she saw his other unspoken message. _Get away, let me handle this. I want you safe too._

"Is this what the firewhiskey is doing to you, Father?" Scorpius asked, trying to keep Draco's attention occupied for as long as possible. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Clarie slowly but surely slip towards Aria's bedroom.

"Shut your mouth!" Draco demanded, eyes alight with rage and something else, something Scorpius did not like. He looked feral then, more than just just an out of control drunk. He looked like a wild animal, past reasoning with.

Clarie had made it to the door. She opened it as quietly as she could, and slipped inside. That was when Scorpius could breathe slightly, and was more focused on the threat of his father facing off with him. Draco was unpredictable. He was a stranger, and a deranged one at that. This was not the man Scorpius had loved and looked up to. Draco may not have been the most honorable man, but despite his personal opinions on those he considered lower in the wizarding community, he would never lay a hand on them. Not after the battle of Hogwarts. The war had changed him.

Scorpius lifted his wand. "Father, do not make me hurt you."

Draco grinned, and that grin was worse than any scowl or look of rage he'd ever bestowed upon his son. "You can try, boy. You can try."

* * *

Clarie's arm was killing her, and she was absolutely terrified. Aria was nearly inconsolable, but Clarie had been able to coax her into her arms. She sat on Aria's toddler sized bed and rocked the child back and forth in her arms while Aria sobbed, which was exactly what Clarie felt like doing.

But no, that would do nothing to help Scorpius. But what could she do? If she went out to help, Scorpius would just be distracted and then they'd both be in danger, and who would be there to protect Aria? Clarie knew Scorpius was an excellent wizard, but could he really face off his father, who had been known to excel in his school years, and who was now very drunk and highly unpredictable?

"Aria, do you have a telephone in your bedroom?" Clarie asked the child gently, for she didn't immediately see one of the muggle devices just lying around.

"N-N-No," Aria hiccuped.

"Okay then." Clarie bit her lip, thinking hard. There was really only one thing for it, because she could not disapparate yet, and there was no other plausible way of getting them out of the room and getting help. She would have to send a patronus.

The only problem was, she wasn't quite sure how to do that.

Clarie had produced a few tiny silver wisps before when attempting the patronus charm, but it had never taken on a full corporeal form. Even if she could do that, how would her patronus deliver the message to her parents, who were so far away at the moment?

"Come on Clarie, think. How to produce a patronus…"

"Think happy," Aria said, though she still had silent tears streaming down her cheeks, and her face was bright red and splotchy.

Happy thoughts. Right. But how in the world could she think of anything happy with what was going on outside at that very moment?

She glanced down at Aria, and her heart warmed slightly. There was her answer right there. Clarie hadn't been truly happy until she'd been with her adopted family, and that included Scorpius, Aria, and her friends. She thought back to Albus's last birthday, and how utterly happy she'd been when discussing her crush on Albus with Ginny and Lucy Weasley, and how excited she'd been to see Scorpius and Aria again, despite her being so incredibly angry at the Malfoy boy. They were her friends, her family. And family, her real true family that loved her, were her happy place.

Clarie pulled out her wand and whispered, "Expecto Patronum."

A wisp appeared. She tried again, and again, and again. Aria had started to giggle, and every time she did, Clarie's patronus seemed to strengthen in size and form. Whatever her patronus was, it was going to be _big_.

"Wolf!' Aria shrieked, delighted, when Clarie did the spell for about the tenth time. Clarie hadn't seen anything in the mist of silver, but Aria's exclamation gave her a form to hold onto in her mind, and the next time she cast the spell, a wolf really did appear.

It was larger than any wolf Clarie had seen. It was beautiful, too, all silver and white. Clarie wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do next, so she looked at her wolf patronus, which looked directly back at her, and said, "Go to my father, Neville Longbottom, and deliver this message exactly: _Come to Malfoy Manor immediately. Scorpius needs help._ "

The wolf let out a howl, and with a swish of Clarie's wand, an idea that came to her from nowhere it seemed, the wolf dashed through the second story window and ran across the yard. Clarie could barely see its retreating figure when she and Aria lept up and ran to the window. Within two seconds time, the patronus was gone and Clarie could only hope she'd done the spell right and that the message would reach her father in time.

Outside the door there was a loud bang, and Clarie heard clear as day Scorpius's piercing scream.

* * *

"I've checked everywhere," Hannah sobbed. "No one knows where's she's gone! None of her friends have seen hide or hair of her, she's not with my parents, and no one around town even saw her leave the house."

Neville put a shaking hand on his wife's shoulder. "Scorpius still hasn't returned my owl, either. Harry hasn't been able to trace her yet, because she apparently hasn't used any magic and is under some sort of protective enchantment."

"Do you think she's run off?" Hannah asked, voice breaking. It was almost as if she were hopeful for that answer. Neville couldn't blame her. The alternative was absolutely unthinkable.

"All our children," Hannah whispered, dissolving into tears again, "they're all gone!"

"Hannah—" Neville started to say, but was cut off when a bluish-silver mist started to form before their very eyes on the kitchen floor. Hannah stopped crying and they both stared. It was a wolf. A patronus, obviously, but a wolf indeed. Neville didn't know about his wife, but he had yet to come across anyone he was familiar with who had a wolf as their patronus.

The wolf opened it's mouth, and spoke in a voice that was very clearly their daughter's: " _Come to Malfoy Manor immediately. Scorpius needs help."_

The wolf repeated the message another two times, and then disappeared.

Neville reached for his wand, and Hannah grabbed his hand. "I'm going with you," she said, her voice hard. Her message was obvious: Don't you dare try and stop me.

Neville just nodded, not having time to argue, and closed his eyes. Seconds later, they were right outside Malfoy Manor, and Neville took off at a run, Hannah hot on his heels. They were not Malfoys, and therefore did not have automatic access to the house like Scorpius and Aria, but Scorpius had given Neville a key. "Just in case," he'd said, with a tiny hint of anticipation or fear in his voice, Neville couldn't tell which. Now he was very glad the kid had thought ahead.

Just as Neville's foot touched the bottom stair, they heard a piercing scream.

"Scorpius!" Hannah cried, and they rushed up the stairs, just in time to see Scorpius, who was writhing on the floor, point his wand at his father and shout, "IMPERIO!"

Draco went rigid, and Scorpius, who was now almost sobbing, yelled, "STOP THIS NOW AND PUT YOUR WAND DOWN!"

Draco did as he was told, and Neville's heart sank, though he was relieved. The look of barely controlled pain that had been written clearly all over Scorpius's face had vanished, and he stood shakily on his feet, pointing his wand at his father, who glared menacingly at him. "Get up," Scorpius snapped. "Get up now, and go back to your room. You will lay in that bed and you will not get up until I tell you otherwise."

Draco obediently stood and walked back to his room, almost as if nothing had happened, but there was a smear of blood across his right cheek, and there was clear tension in his shoulders.

When Draco had made it to his room, Scorpius turned to face them. He looked first to Neville, and then to Hannah, and said, "The girls are in Aria's room. I'm sure they're upset. If you'll excuse me, I must deal with my father."

There was a cold, flat look in the boy's eyes that Neville had never seen there before. It was a look much, much worse than the miserable one Scorpius had had two summers ago when Neville had first met the boy and offered him a place at Hogwarts.

Hannah turned her horrified, tear-filled gaze on Neville as Scorpius pushed past them. She reached out for him, but Scorpius just shrugged away and kept walking. Neville gently pushed his wife in the direction of Aria's bedroom. "Go check on the girls," he told her in a low voice. "I'll make sure he's alright."

Hannah nodded, still looking extremely concerned, and opened the door to Aria's bedroom. Both girls let out a scream, but Hannah was calming them down before the door had even closed behind her.

Neville sighed, and went to find the young boy whom he had no idea what he was going to do with. When had his life become so complicated?

* * *

When the doorknob to Aria's bedroom started to turn, Clarie gathered Aria up in her arms. She would protect that little girl with everything she had in her. They both screamed as the door was opened, but it was just Hannah, and she immediately ran to them.

"Shh, it's okay," she told them both, hugging them tightly to her chest.

"Mum!" Clarie cried, finding that the tears she'd been repressing for the last several minutes she'd been in Aria's room now could not stop flowing. "Mum, we were so frightened."

"I know love, but it's alright. Everything's alright now."

Aria kept mumbling, "'Anna. 'Anna," and playing with her hair. Clarie could feel the little girl's tears through her muggle clothes.

"What happened?" Clarie demanded, pulling away. She gladly let Hannah pull Aria into her arms. "Where's Scorpius? Is he alright? Where's Dad?"

"Scorpius is fine," Hannah assured both Clarie and Aria. "Neville is just outside, checking on him and on his father."

Clarie looked down at her feet. "You're very mad at me, aren't you?"

Hannah sighed. "Yes, I am angrier at you than I have ever been, but that can be put aside for a few minutes. Right now, I'm just so grateful everyone is alright. You did the right thing, letting us know. When did you learn to produce a patronus?"

"Just now?" Clarie said, a little sheepishly. "I wasn't really sure how. I mean, I knew the spell, and knew to think happy, so I tried over and over and over again until I could make one. I wasn't sure what to do after that, so I just told it to deliver a message. I suppose it worked."

"It worked very well," Hannah said, sounding highly impressed. "A wolf, huh?"

"Wolf!" Aria said, and giggled. That was a much better sound than that of her crying, which she'd been doing since they heard Scorpius scream in the hallway. Clarie would not rest until she found out what had made that happen. Scorpius almost never screamed.

"Beautiful, wasn't it?" Clarie said absentmindedly. "Mum, when can we go see Scorpius? I want to check on him."

Aria nodded fervently and said, "Check on Bubba."

"Later," Hannah told them, giving Clarie a stern look. "Let him come to you. Your father is with him now. I'm sure he'll be alright."

Clarie wasn't quite as certain. Scorpius had behaved like a totally different person than the one Clarie knew these past two days. She was scared that he might withdraw into himself after this, and that he might never be the same again.

* * *

"Scorp?"

Scorpius had known Neville would follow him as soon as he'd dismissed both him and Hannah and went after his father. After witnessing what they had, there was no way Scorpius would be walking away without some kind of lecture.

Instead of replying in any normal manner, Scorpius continued to stare at his father, who was now lying completely still and silent in his bed. Magic was fun. Scorpius didn't have to tie his father up, and he would remain totally silent without having to be gagged. "It's nice when he's silent, don't you think?"

Neville came in a shut the door behind him. "Scorpius, we need to talk about what just happened."

"I'm not sure we do," Scorpius replied. "What happened happened and I will accept whatever consequences you dole out, but your eyes cannot lie to you Professor. You saw what you saw and there is nothing I can do to change that."

"You can't simply dismiss this," Neville said, glancing briefly at Draco, and then diverting his full attention on Scorpius once again. "What happened before Hannah and I got here? Why was your father trying to attack you?"

"He wasn't thrilled by my idea of a house-guest."

He saw the look of shock, and slight horror, that crossed Neville's face, and he was almost glad of it. Let the professor think what he wanted. Scorpius knew he was a monster, and he couldn't blame it on a spell or alcohol like his father could. He had put Clarie in danger. No matter the situation, Clarie was Neville's child, not Scorpius. He would protect her over all else, and rightfully so. Scorpius wouldn't blame him if he decided it would be safer for Clarie and Scorpius not to be friends anymore. They'd probably still watch Aria, but Scorpius would wager he'd not be allowed back at the Longbottoms' house again.

"Clarie ran away yesterday," Neville said, making Scorpius look up. Where in the world could this conversation be headed? "We didn't know where she'd gone. We had everyone we knew looking for her. We'd planned to have someone come and look here, but I was scared you and Aria might have disappeared as well. We couldn't get ahold of you either. You can have no idea how upset that made Hannah."

Scorpius looked down at his feet. "I didn't get a letter from you," he said.

Neville nodded. "I'm beginning to realize that. Now Clarie, she's not stupid. She knew better than to use any magic to get to you. She knew the aurors would find her if she did that. So I wager it took her a very long time to get here."

"I had planned on telling you," Scorpius said immediately, looking up. His tone was desperate, in spite of everything. He wanted Neville to believe him. "It was so late when she arrived, and I'd already put Aria to bed and had to deal with my father. It seemed too late to do more than sleep. I regret that now, but I let her stay in our guest chambers. I had made sure to lock it up and everything, telling her to wait to come out in the morning until I'd made sure the coast was clear."

"What happened?" Neville asked softly.

"My father found his wand." Scorpius sighed deeply, shooting an angry look at his father on the bed. "He thought I'd brought a muggle or muggle-born friend to his house, and he didn't like that idea at all. I was awoken by screaming. I...I think he hurt Clarie's arm."

In fact, Scorpius knew he had. Clarie had been holding her arm with a pained expression on her face, even after Draco had let go of her. Scorpius couldn't feel worse about the situation.

"I'm so sorry I let this happen, Professor," Scorpius finally whispered. "It is all my fault."

He felt Neville put a hand on his shoulder, but Scorpius refused to look up.

"Scorpius, none of this is your fault."

Scorpius snorted.

"No, listen to me," Neville said again, with a little more force in his voice. Scorpius stayed silent. "This is not your fault. Your father is sick."

Draco was glaring at them both ferociously.

"It is not your fault your father did what he did. It is not your fault your father is sick. It is not your fault Clarie ran away from home to come and talk to you, or that it was so late at night and you couldn't turn her away. It is not your fault you're having to raise your little sister. It is not your fault those Death Eaters came that night and tortured you and your father, and it is most certainly not your fault that your mother died and that your life isn't the way it was two years ago."

Scorpius could hardly breathe. How had Neville known? Scorpius blamed himself for all of the above, and though he didn't really believe the professor's words, he was still surprised he had seen through Scorpius's armour he wore everyday, trying to hide his flaws from the people he cared about.

"It's _all_ my fault," Scorpius whispered.

"No it isn't," Neville said again, his voice growing even harder. " _None_ of this is your fault, Scorpius."

"But Professor—"

"And for goodness sake, stop calling me 'Professor'!" Neville threw his hands up in the air and started pacing around the room. "I don't know what to do with you, Scorpius. You've practically lived in our house for two years and you still insist on calling me 'Professor' when we're not in school. I have a name you know. You are free to use it. Heavens know all the other kids do, sometimes even in class."

"Sir—"

"And this 'sir' nonsense," Neville continued. "What is that all about? Do I look like the kind of man who would mind if you called me 'sir' or not? Who gives a flying flip about proper manners? This is 2019. No one calls adults sir anymore. Now Scorpius, I really must insist you give up this nonsense and come back home."

Home, Scorpius thought. _Come back home._ So Neville understood that this wasn't Scorpius's home, too.

"I can't," Scorpius said softly.

Neville started to say something again, so Scorpius held up a hand.

"Wait," he said, "hear me out. I can't come back. I must take care of my father. I know you say there are people for that, but my father can't help what happened to him anymore than your parents could. The situations may've been different, Professor, but the outcome is still the same. My father was tortured to insanity, same as your parents, and none of them truly deserved it. My father was a better man than he had ever been. He was respectable, and a good husband and father. He had his bad qualities too, no denying it, but you remember how he was raised. I was not raised like that, so I understand differently. My father is sick, and I must take care of him. Not for the man he has become, but for the man he once was. The man I once loved and respected."

Neville let out a long sigh. "So you won't come back with us, then? Not until the summer's end?"

"No sir," Scorpius told him. "However….I would be more than happy to visit much more often than I had planned."

"Well that's something," Neville relented. "But how will you get there?"

"How did you know to come here when you were direly needed?" Scorpius shot back.

"Clarie sent a patronus," Neville said, sounding for all the world like the proud father Scorpius knew he was.

Scorpius shrugged. "Do that then. Whenever you want me to come by. I'll concede to weekend visits, but please don't use this to con me into traveling back and forth everyday. That is a lot of work, especially with a baby."

"Well, you could leave Aria at our house—"

"No!" Scorpius said a little too quickly. Neville flinched. "Er, sorry," Scorpius said, lowering his voice. "It's just….I'm sorry. I can't be away from my sister."

Neville nodded in understanding.

"Alright, well if things ever get to be too much—"

"I know, Professor." Scorpius turned his head. He could see Neville roll his eyes at Scorpius calling him 'Professor' again, but this was so ingrained into him, that Scorpius felt it would be too hard to change now. "Why don't you go check on the girls? I'll stay here and put my father to bed."

"May want to take off that Imperio charm," Neville said warily, already moving towards the door.

Scorpius paused. "Should I, though?" He mused. "It isn't as though I'd harm him, and obviously the Ministry cannot tell when an unforgivable curse has been performed on these lands. Or underage magic."

Neville came back in the room, then, putting a hand on Scorpius's shoulder. "Yes, you must," he urged. "You did what you had to in a time of need, but it is cruel to keep such a spell on your father for a long amount of time. It could cause further damage to his mental state."

Scorpius stared at his father, contemplating. He didn't want to see his father more damaged….did he? Right now, it was hard to tell.

"Professor, do you think Mr. Potter or Mr. Weasley will look after my father for the next couple days? I intend to return, but for a few days, I think I wish to return to your home."

Neville looked slightly taken aback. "Of course. I'll send the messages."

Scorpius nodded. "Thank you. I believe I will take the spell off him now, after I give him a sleeping draught, of course."

"Oh, I can do that." Neville appeared alarmed.

"Afraid I'll poison him?" Scorpius inquired, in his same, uncaring tone. "I suppose that makes sense. I am very angry with him right now. However, I know he cannot help what has become of him. I do not want to see him dead."

"Honestly, Scorpius, why don't you go see to your sister? I'll make sure your father gets the rest he needs—"

"No." Scorpius's voice was soft, but firm. "I will not come with you until I have done this, Professor. Please leave me to it."

Neville hesitated. It was clear that everything in him said not to trust a young boy with a such a request, but he was trying. Or maybe he was just afraid to trust a Malfoy.

Whatever it was, Neville seemed to decide that Scorpius was to be trusted, at least with this. He turned on his heel and left the room as silently as he had come.

Scorpius turned back to his father, who was staring at him in silent, slit-eyed hate. "Sleep now, Father," Scorpius murmured, conjuring a potion from the bedside table into his hand. "And if you ever put the Cruciartus curse on me again, I will break many a bone in your body."

Draco's eyes widened at that, but Scorpius had already tipped the potion back into his father's mouth. Draco's eyes fluttered shut, and Scorpius finally took the spell off him.

Now, he sat there, watching the easy rise and fall of his father's breathing, and wondering when he, Scorpius, would ever sleep so soundly again.

* * *

As soon as Neville entered Aria's bedroom, his daughter's mass of blonde hair collided with his chest. Neville bent and scooped her up in his arms, savoring the sweet scent of the little girl she was slowly but surely growing out of being.

"Clarie," he whispered, shutting his eyes. "My sweetheart, are you alright?"

"I'm okay Daddy," she said, pulling back slightly. Clarie almost never called him Daddy. Dad, yes, or Neville, but Daddy was special. "Where's Scorpius? Is he alright?"

Just like her to worry about everyone but herself. It was a beautiful and foolish quality Neville both loved and grew incredibly frustrated with about his child.

"He'll be alright," Neville assured her—though this he was not sure about this himself—and set her back down on the ground.

"Neville!" Aria screeched, launching herself from Hannah's arms toward Neville's, who moved to catch her.

"Hey there darling." Neville's smile came easily then, for the first time that night, "How's my little one?"

"I'm not little," Aria pronounced, defiant as always.

Neville laughed, and set her down on her toddler bed. "Of course you're not," He ruffled her hair, and then turned to his wife. "Hannah, can I see you in the hallway for a moment?"

She nodded, stepping out of the open door. Clarie moved to follow, but Neville stopped her, putting both his hands gently on her slighter shoulders. "No, honey, I need you to stay here with Ari."

"But if it's Scorpius—"

"Clarie." His tone was a warning.

"Neville, I must see how he is!" She exclaimed. "He is my friend!"

"Clarie, you need to stay—"

"I will not!" She tried to keep her voice low in front of Aria, but it seemed to take everything in her not to shout. "He screamed so loud, Father, _so loud_ …"

"I know." Neville pulled his daughter into another brief hug, and then looked into her eyes, very seriously. "It's alright. He does not appear to be hurt, and Draco is back in his bed. Scorpius is coming to stay with us for a few nights. But right now, I need to talk with your mother in private."

Clarie sighed, finally subsiding. "Fine, but he sleeps in my room tonight."

Neville's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me?"

Clarie crossed her arms. "He is my friend, and I would like to talk to him. Alone."

"Clarrissa, you know your room is off limits to boys—"

"Don't 'Clarissa' me," Clarie said, almost angrily. "He is practically my brother. He stays with me tonight."

Neville glared at her for a moment, before straightening up and going into the hallway. "We will talk about this later. I do not have time for this now."

* * *

"Is he really alright?" Hannah demanded, the moment Neville shut Aria's bedroom door behind him.

Neville sighed, pitching his voice so low that he hoped no young ears listening from either bedroom could hear him. "I cannot be sure. Hannah, you should've seen the look in his eyes, the way he talked…" Neville shook his head grimly. "He seemed so...empty. Like he would never be cheerful again."

Tears sprung up in his wife's eyes, and she put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, my poor boy…"

Neville didn't know when Scorpius had gone from "the poor boy" to "my poor boy" in Hannah's eyes, but the change had come long ago, and there was no doubt that Scorpius was as good as their child. Not to Hannah.

"He is staying with us for a few nights, but he is insistent on returning here for the summer. All I could get out of him was the promise of frequent visits."

"Oh dear…."

"Also, your daughter wishes for him to sleep in her bedroom tonight."

At this, Hannah dropped her hands, giving him an exasperated look. "Really Neville? That has bothered you, after everything you've heard today?"

"Why must she insist on killing me?"

"Neville!"

He sighed. "Oh, alright. What are we to do about Scorpius? And about punishing Clarie for sneaking off?"

"Has our daughter not been punished enough? Can it not be something simple, like no sweeties from Honeydukes for a week?"

Neville considered this, remembering the panicked look in his daughter's eyes, the absolute conviction on her face, the protectiveness and worry. "Make it two, and we'll consider the matter dropped."

Hannah was obviously fighting a smile. "I will get Scorpius. You help the girls pack Aria's things." She paused. "This is good parenting, right?"

Neville nodded emphatically. "This is fantastic parenting. After all, our child produced her first patronus."

* * *

"Professor, I asked for a moment of privacy," Scorpius said, not turning when he heard the door open behind him.

"Not from me, you didn't," Hannah said, almost cheerfully.

Scorpius still didn't turn, but he raised an eyebrow. "Hullo Hannah. May I have a moment of privacy?"

"No, you may not."

At this, he did turn, and he gave her an incredulous stare. Hannah was always so polite, and though her voice still sounded so, her words left no room for argument.

"Not even a moment, then?" He asked.

"Not even that," she confirmed. "I believe you have had quite enough privacy, and your father is well asleep. If you need more time to think, you can do it in the comfort of our home."

"Am I not already home?" He asked, though he did not believe it himself.

"Scorpius, stop this rubbish," Hannah said, and she lost her cheery tone. "You are worrying your sisters, and I have not the patience to deal with your impotence."

"Hannah—"

"I will not have you close yourself off from the world again. It took almost all of the past two years to make you feel at home with my family, and I do not wish to make the journey again. I will not lose my little boy. Before, I did not know you, so I had only to gain in affection from and for you. Now, I have everything to lose. Do not put me through that, child, for I do not think my heart could bear it."

Scorpius stared at her. He'd heard everything she'd said loud and clear, but his mind could only focus on a few words. _I will not lose my little boy._

Hannah did not have any children of her own, and for that, her heart had opened to a little lost girl. She and Neville had adopted Clarie, who had no one else in the world. But Scorpius had not realized that, in an unofficial way, she had done the same with him and Aria.

There had been a time when Hannah hadn't been able to handle Aria, claiming she had never had a baby and did not know how to care for one. That time had passed in all of about a month, when she had had to care for her several times. And by that point, she'd loved her deeply. Scorpius knew Hannah cared for him too, but he hadn't thought he might seem to her as her child, in the way Clarie and even maybe his sister had.

Hannah knelt down in front of him and took his hands in hers. "I once told my husband, on your first day at Hogwarts, that I could not handle taking care of your sister. And in response, he told me I would not have to. He said you and your sister were not _my_ problem, and that we would not be responsible for raising you both."

Scorpius looked down at his feet, feeling awful. They were doing exactly what Professor Longbottom had promised his wife they would never do; they were raising Draco Malfoy's children.

"But you know what?" Hannah squeezed his hands again, and Scorpius glanced up, involuntarily. "My husband was halfway right. You and your sister are not my problem."

"Hannah, we never meant to impose—"

"You are not my problem," she went on a little louder, "because it is my _privilege_ to have you in my life. We may not be responsible for raising you, but we are doing so, because it is what we want. Now, I know you can take care of yourself, and I do not care. To me, you will always be a little boy of whom I will protect with my life, because you are my little boy, just as Clarie and Aria are my little girls. My husband was wrong. I can handle caring for your sister. And you are not my problem, you are my heart. You, Aria and Clarie hold my heart in three equal pieces that are as easy to hold as they are to break. Do not break my heart, Scorpius Malfoy, for I could not bear to lose you."

Scorpius did not realize he was crying until Hannah reached up and wiped the tears from his cheeks. Scorpius then did something he had not done to anyone in a very long time. He threw his arms around Hannah and sobbed into her loving embrace, "Take me home. I want to go home!"

Hannah smoothed down his hair, whispering, "Shh, it's okay, it's alright. We're going home. It's alright."

But it wasn't. Scorpius hadn't been hugged like this, as if by a mother, his mother, in almost three years. And now Hannah Longbottom was hugging him tightly, whispering comforting things in his ear that a mother would say. She was not Scorpius's mother, who had long since passed and whom Scorpius would never see again in this lifetime, but Hannah was another mother to him. If she had room in her heart for two more children, then he had room in his heart for two mothers.

A hug was so simple, and yet it was everything to Scorpius. It was a hug from his mother, one that held the promise of love and home, and was all that was keeping his head above water.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Sorry for the long, long wait. As you may have guessed, May is my busiest month. Exams, dance recital, end of the school year things, Mother's Day, and to top it all off, my birthday. Now, what does this have to do with the OTHER months I didn't post anything for any of my stories? Nothing. That can be attributed as writer's block and laziness. This should be the last story I update, seeing as I just updated in April, but inspiration does not work that way. Sorry.**

 **For my Auslly fans! I am working on WOSC and Already There updates. I have VBS this week and my mom is having to have surgery again this summer, so I don't know how frequent my updates will be, but I will try. That is all I can promise. Again, I am sorry, and I hope you guys can work with my. Love you guys so much!**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


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